Friedrich Merz
| Friedrich Merz | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Member of the Bundestag | |
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In office 1994 – 2009 |
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| Member of the European Parliament | |
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In office 1989 – 1994 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 November 1955 Brilon, North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union |
| Alma mater | University of Bonn |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www.friedrich-merz.de |
Friedrich Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician, a former Member of the European Parliament (1989–1994), a former member of the Bundestag (1994–2009), and a former chairman of CDU/CSU parliamentary group (2000–2002).
He was elected chairman of the CDU/CSU group in the same year as Angela Merkel was elected chairman of the CDU, one of the two parties constituting the CDU/CSU group. In 2002, he stepped down as chairman in favour of Merkel.
He is also a Senior Counsel at Mayer Brown's Düsseldorf office, having joined the firm's corporate finance team in 2004, after spending several years at Cornelius Bartenbach Haesemann.
After finishing Abitur in 1975 and serving in the army Merz began to study law (1976) in Bonn. He became a member of KDStV Bavaria Bonn, a Catholic student fraternity that is member of the Cartellverband. After finishing law school in 1985 he became a judge in Saarbrücken. In 1986 he quit his position in order to work as an attorney-at-law.
From 1989 till 1994 Merz was a Member of the European Parliament, where he served on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and on the parliament's delegation for relations with Malta.
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