Curriculum vitae

of Gudrun Kopp, Member of the German Bundestag

Personal details

Born in Klosterneudorf in the
Gardelegen (Altmark) district
on 18 October 1950

Resident in [the State of] North Rhine-Westphalia since 1953

Resident in the town of Lage on the Lippe River, North Rhine-Westphalia

Married, two grown-up children

Professional background

Export manager, interpreter and translator (languages: English and Spanish)
Specialist areas: Economics and Electrical Engineering

Various managerial positions, including in an electrical goods company

Self-employed, freelance work

Regular business contacts with medium-sized companies through family-run business

Political background

Member of the Liberal Party (Free Democratic Party, FDP) since 1975

15 years (1979 to 1994) as Town Council Member for Lage on the Lippe River
Main areas of political activity: financial and economic policies

Chairperson of the Finance Committee; leader of the parliamentary party group

10 years (1994 to 2004) as Member of the Lippe Greater District Assembly

Offices held in the FDP political party

1990–1994: Chief Executive of Lage conurbation

1993–1996: Chairperson of the Lippe district party organisation

1995–2011: Chairperson of the East Westphalia-Lippe Borough

since 1996: Member of the FDP Executive Board of the Land [state] of North Rhine-Westphalia

Delegate at the FDP’s party conferences at district, Land [state] and national level

1998–2009: Member of both the North Rhine-Westphalia regional and the national parliamentary committees on business and labour affairs.

Member of the German Bundestag

Constituency:
Lippe 1, East Westphalia-Lippe in North Rhine-Westphalia (constituency no. 136)
Member of the German Bundestag since 27 September 1998 (from the 14th electoral term onwards)

1998–2002 (14th electoral term):
Spokesperson for the FDP parliamentary group on consumer policies
Regular member of the Parliamentary Committee on Business and Technology
Member and Spokesperson for the Study Commission on Globalization of the World Economy
2001: Delegate at the WTO Conference in Doha

2002–2005 (15th electoral term):
Spokesperson for the FDP parliamentary group on energy and consumer issues
Regular member of the Parliamentary Committee on Business and Labour Affairs
2003: Delegate at the WTO Conference in Cancún

2005–2009 (16th electoral term):
Spokesperson for the FDP parliamentary group on energy and international trade issues
Regular member of the Parliamentary Committee on Business and Technology
Regular Member of the Sub-Committee on Regional Economic Policy
Alternate Member of the Parliamentary Committee on the Affairs of the European Union
Alternate Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Transport, Building and Urban Affairs
Member of the Advisory Council at the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway
2005: Delegate at the WTO Conference in Hong Kong

since 28 October 2009: Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Other offices currently held

German Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

German Governor of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and of the Asian Development Fund (ADF)

German Governor of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and of the African Development Fund (AfDF)

German Governor of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)

Chair of the supervisory board of the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (German Investment and Development Company – DEG)

President of the Board of Trustees of the German Development Institute (GDI)

Member of the Foundation Council of the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF)

Other information:

During the 16th electoral term (2005 to 2009), I was a member of the following parliamentary and parliamentary interest groups:

German-British Parliamentary Friendship Group

Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the States of Central America

German-Japanese Parliamentary Friendship Group

German-Chinese Parliamentary Friendship Group

Discussion group on Tibet

Group of "Christians in the FDP parliamentary group"

Senior Member of the Dr. hc. Pe. Wilhelm Rossmann Foundation in Lemgo for the Promotion of the (Visually) Impaired, Education, Training and Health in Peru

Also a member of the following associations and organisations:
Philharmonic Society East Westphalia-Lippe, German Red Cross, St. John’s Ambulance, German Society for the Protection of Children, Twinning Association of the Towns of Lage and Horsham (England), Detmold and Zeitz Town Twinning Association

Member of hospice movement in the Lippe district

Member of the Local Heritage Trust of the Lippe district

Member of the Local Heritage Trust and Tourist Board of Lage-Hörste

Member of the Local Association of Reserve Officers, Augustdorf

Leisure interests/activities

Yoga, contemporary painting, archaeology (in particular ancient Mesoamerican civilisations), psychology and rock music