Karl-Heinz Lambertz

Karl-Heinz Lambertz
Speaker of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 June 2014
Preceded by	Alexander Miesen
Minister-President of the German Community
In office 6 July 1999 – 30 June 2014
Preceded by	Joseph Maraite
Succeeded by	Oliver Paasch
Personal details
Born	4 June 1952 Schoppen, Belgium
Political party	Socialist Party
Alma mater	Free University of Brussels, French

Karl-Heinz Lambertz (born 4 June 1952) is a Belgian politician holding a master's degree in Law with an additional specialization in German Law. He was the Minister-President of the Government of the German-speaking Community of Belgium for 15 years and became President of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community in 2014. He is noted for voicing an outspoken demand for his community, numbering about 70,000 around Eupen. He has been a member of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the European Union since 1999, where he was President of the PES Group for 5 years, becoming First Vice-President of the institution in 2015. Within the CoR he is particularly active in the Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) and the Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE).

He is also very active in the Congress of the Council of Europe and where he is President of the Socialist Group.

On 17 July 2008, he was one of three senior Belgian politicians commissioned by King Albert II to investigate ways of enabling constitutional reform talks in the light of the long-running Belgian constitutional crisis.^[1]

Professional career

• 1976-1980: Assistant at the Law Faculty, Catholic University of Louvain (UCL, Université catholique de Louvain )
• 1980-1981: Advisor to the Minister for Institutional Reforms/ Deputy Director of AG AEROTECH
• 1981-1990: Advisor at the Wallon Region investment company SRIW (Société Régionale d'Investissement de Wallonie)
• 1988-2010: Lecturer at the Law Faculty, UCL (subject: German Legal Terminology)

Political career

The seat of the government of the German-speaking Community in Eupen

• 1975-1980: President of the Council of the German-Speaking Youth (RDJ)
• 1975-1981: Member of the Committee for the Official German Translation of Laws and Decrees
• Since 1981: Member of the Council of the German-speaking Community
• 1981-1990: Chairman of the Socialist Parliamentary Group in the Council of the German-speaking Community
• 1984-1990: President of the Socialist Party of the German-Language Area of Belgium
• Since 1986: Member of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party
• 1990-1995: German-Language Community Minister for Media, Adult Education, Invalids, Social Welfare and Vocational Training
• 1995-1997: Town Councilor in Eupen
• 1995-1999: Community Minister for Youth, Training, Media and Social Issues
• 1999-2004: Prime Minister (Minister-President) of the German-Language Community, & Minister for Invalids, Media and Sports
• Since 1999: Member of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Commission for Culture, Education and Research (EDUC) and Commission for Economic and Social Policy (ECOS)
• Since 2000: Member of the Congress of the Council of Europe
• Since 2004: Prime Minister of the German-Language Community & Minister for Local Authorities
• Since 2006: General reporter of the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities on cross-border cooperation
• 2007-2010: Plenary Chair of the Working Group on Inter-Regional Co-operation at the CLRAE (CT/CIR)
• 2008-2010: Plenary Chair of the Committee on culture and education at the CLRAE
• Since 2010: Plenary Chair of the Governance Committee at the CLRAE
• Since 2009: Member of the Bureau of the CoR
• Since 2010: Head of the Belgian delegation at the CLRAE
• Since 2010: President of Association of European Border Regions (AEBR)
• Since 2011: President of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions
• Since 2013: President of the Euregio Maas-Rhine (EMR)

Honours

• 2014: Grand cross in the Order of the Crown.^[2]

References

1. BBC NEWS | Europe | Belgian PM's resignation rejected
2. arrêtés royaux du 26 mai 2014

External links

• Official site of Karl-Heinz Lambertz
• Government of the DG
• Karl-Heinz Lambertz's channel on YouTube
• Official web page of the DG
• Parliament of the DG
• PES Group Committee of the Regions
• Association of European Border Regions