Axel Voss

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Axel Voss (2018)

Axel Voss (* 7. April 1963 in Hameln ) is a German politician of the CDU . He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009 and has been the EPP Group Coordinator in the Legal Affairs Committee , a deputy member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Delegation for Australia and New Zealand since 2017 . The thematic focus of his parliamentary work is digital policy .

Life

education

After high school in 1982 at the CJD -Gymnasium in Elze studied Voss 1983-1987 Law at the University of Trier , the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg and the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich . In the 1987 summer semester he attended a language school in Paris. He then continued his studies in Munich, which he completed with the first state examination in August 1990. His electives were European and International Law and International Relations. In March 1994 he passed the second state examination and has been admitted to the bar since August 1994.

Professional Activities

From May 1994 to December 1995, Voss was in charge of the project and the editing of the European subsidiarity principle as a TV report for CineDokumentFilm, Munich, both technically and programmatically . From June 1994 to January 2000 he was a citizen advisor to the European Commission in its regional representation in Bonn. From 2000 to 2008 he was a lecturer at the Remagen University of Applied Sciences for European affairs. Since his admission in 1994, he also practiced as a lawyer until 2009.

Party career

Voss joined the CDU in 1996. He began his political work at the municipal level as a competent citizen in the city council of Bonn for "International Relations and Local Agenda". From 1999 to 2004 he was head of the 'Europe, Foreign and Security Policy' working group of the CDU in Bonn and was involved as a project manager for "International Bonn" as part of the Bonn Vision 2010. From 2004 to 2009 he was district chairman of the Bonn CDU. In addition, from February 2005 to October 2011, Voss was deputy district chairman of the CDU Mittelrhein. Since October 7, 2011, he has been elected as the successor to Norbert Röttgen as district chairman of the CDU Mittelrhein, which with around 20,000 members is one of the strongest of the eight districts of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia .

Member of Parliament

Voss has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009 and is a member of the EPP Group . He was always elected for the Middle Rhine region (Bonn, Cologne, Leverkusen, Rhein-Sieg and Rhein-Erft districts) via the CDU's state list of North Rhine-Westphalia , in fourth place in the 2019 European elections . He is the coordinator of the EPP Group in the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) and a deputy member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). He is also Vice-Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Australia and New Zealand.

Voss is involved as a member of the Europa-Union parliamentary group European Parliament and is the contact of the White Ring for Europe and international matters in the European Parliament. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for European Partnerships and International Cooperation in Hürth . After all, he is also district chairman of the Europa Union Bonn / Rhein-Sieg and vice-president of the Mérite Européen Friends and Supporters Germany.

Other engagement

  • Member of the medium-sized and business association of the CDU / CSU
  • Member of the local political association of the CDU and CSU in Germany
  • Member of the Evangelical Working Group of the CDU / CSU
  • Member of the Christian Social Policy Foundation
  • Member of the European Logistics Platform
  • Member of cnetz - Association for Network Policy eV
  • Member of the German-Australian Lawyers Association
  • Member of the Bonn-Cape Coast (Ghana) eV partnership
  • Member of the Rotary Club Bonn
  • Member of the Board of Trustees Citizens for Beethoven Foundation
  • Member of the Carnival Society Wiesse Müüs eV
  • Member of the Bonn City Soldier Corps from 1872 eV
  • Member of the Senior and Youth Welfare Association in the Bonn City Soldiers Corps of 1872 eV
  • Member of the European Internet Foundation
  • Member of the advisory board of the THW-Landesvereinigung NRW eV
  • Member of the board of trustees of the Cologne Forum for International Relations and Security Policy
  • Member of the board of trustees of the German-French Society Bonn and Rhein-Sieg eV
  • Deputy member of the Committee for European Union Affairs of the German Bundestag
  • Deputy Chairman of the Mid-Atlantik Club Bonn eV
  • Senator of SME Europe, SME and business association of the European People's Party

Private

Voss is an Evangelical Lutheran, married, has two daughters and has lived in Bonn since 1994.

Political positions and criticism

As coordinator of the EPP group in the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) and deputy member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Axel Voss primarily deals with issues in the area of ​​digital and legal policy as well as judicial cooperation. As rapporteur or shadow rapporteur for the EPP Group, Voss worked on the General Data Protection Regulation , Passenger Name Data Storage , the Eurojust Regulation, the EU-US Privacy Shield , the Digital Content Directive , the reform of copyright law and the ePrivacy Regulation as well as the legislative initiative report of the European Parliament on civil liability in the use of artificial intelligence .

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Since the European data protection directive from 1995 was quickly overrun by technological progress, the EU Commissioner Viviane Reding , who was responsible from February 2010 , presented the draft of the General Data Protection Regulation (COM (2012) 11) on January 25, 2012 . The draft had to be adopted by the Council and Parliament using the co-decision procedure; Axel Voss was shadow rapporteur for the EPP group . In the age of the digital revolution, according to Voss, it is even more important than before to protect citizens' personal data. At the same time, the standards must still be practicable for the digital economy and “do not create any unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles for companies”. Voss was disappointed by the law that was finally passed in 2016. It has not really been possible to harmonize data protection across Europe, but leave too much room for interpretation to the member states with their large number of opening clauses. In 2018, he continued to criticize the inconsistent interpretation of the law and the associated legal uncertainty among the population and the economy. In addition, many new technologies (e.g. big data applications, IoT , AI ) are not included, the focus on the concept of 'consent' in data processing is too strong and, finally, there are no exceptions for small and medium-sized companies, clubs and associations Private users. However, Voss is also listed on the Lobbyplag.eu website as the EU parliamentarian with the most amendments that are "negative" for data protection. LobbyPlag.eu evaluated the more than 3,100 amendments in the LIBE committee of the European Parliament to the General Data Protection Regulation and thus showed which EU parliamentarians are campaigning for more or less data protection. The aim was to give the public a better insight into the confusing flood of amendments.

ePrivacy Regulation

In addition to the GDPR , the European Commission is also planning to harmonize the previously mainly nationally regulated ePrivacy Directive and published a first proposal for a regulation in 2017. Since then, however, the political negotiations in Brussels have stalled because the Council has not yet been able to agree on a position. Voss is also very critical of the proposed law. In particular, he criticizes the fact that the proposal would partially replace the GDPR as a lex specialis and instead advocates the inclusion of the previous ePrivacy rules in the existing GDPR. In addition, Voss criticizes the fact that the far-reaching restriction on the processing of communication data, the ban on the use of third-party cookies and the strong focus on the concept of 'consent' are unrealistic and cut off Europe from digital progress. Proponents of the reform, such as European Digital Rights, disagree with this view and point to the massive strengthening of user rights and privacy.

Global surveillance affair & international data exchange

Voss speaks at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2018

After the secret service surveillance programs PRISM and XKeyscore , brought to light by Edward Snowden , Voss criticized in July 2013 that third-party access to European data was illegal. During the political negotiations on the GDPR, Voss therefore also advocated the reintroduction of Article 42 in the EU data protection regulation, which had been deleted a few years earlier by the second EU Commission under Barroso (also EPP). The article stipulated that authorities from third countries may only access European data if there is an agreement, i.e. a legal basis, for this. For the general transfer of personal data from the EU to the USA, the Safe Harbor Agreement existed until 2015 and the EU-US Privacy Shield since 2016 . As spokesman for the EPP group, Voss took part in the extensive political discussions in the European Parliament in the course of the NSA affair on both agreements. He was also involved in the negotiations on the SWIFT agreement (transfer of bank data and account movements in Europe to US authorities). Despite the NSA affair that became public in the same year, Voss and the EU Commission defended the agreement after the EU Parliament had previously spoken out in favor of its suspension in 2013. According to Voss, it provides the European investigative authorities with "indispensable information for combating terrorism". His allegation that the exposure to terrorism “at least indirectly feeds” has been criticized, as has his statement that the US would illegally obtain this data without the agreement. Finally, Voss was also the shadow rapporteur for the EPP Group on the controversial Passenger Name Data Retention (PNR). For him, the exchange of passenger data is an effective means of combating crime, which leads to greater security for European citizens.

Upload filter and ancillary copyright

Axel Voss at the vote in the European Parliament on the copyright reform (March 2019)
Protest against personalized upload filters at Voss, Munich 23 March 2019

As a result of the negotiations on a new copyright law within the European Union, Voss acted as the responsible reporter for upload filters and an EU-wide ancillary copyright law for press publishers . See in Directive (EU) 2019/790 (copyright in the digital single market) the sections ancillary copyright for press publishers and licensing and upload filters .

These proposals were criticized by a broad alliance of more than 145 European organizations from civil and human rights movements as well as representatives from the press, libraries and research institutions as well as the internet industry. The criticism was also directed at Voss: According to Friedhelm Greis from the Internet portal Golem.de , politicians like Voss would “neither understand the Internet, nor online journalism or copyright”. Voss was personally criticized on the YouTube platform as the “destroyer of the Internet”. In the course of the debate about the extent to which platforms such as Wikipedia would be restricted under the proposed changes in the law, Sascha Lobo regretted that Voss did not even know exactly how Wikipedia's wiki principle works. In the IT magazine t3n , Voss was criticized as an “unofficial Springer boss lobbyist”. In October 2018 Voss was awarded the Austrian negative Big Brother Award . In March 2019 there were demonstrations with more than 200,000 citizens in Germany alone, who were directed against the reform and also against Voss personally. Also Dorothee Bär , State Secretary for Digital in the Federal Chancellery as well as the Speaker and Chairman of the net-political associations of the parties cnetz (CDU) spoke out against the reform. heise online summarized this with "Axel Voss [...] gets resistance from its own ranks".

The full discussion on the topics of upload filters and ancillary copyright law can be found under Directive (EU) 2019/790 (Copyright in the digital single market) § Public Discussion .

Voss caused irritation when, in September 2018, he was surprised by the scope of the comprehensive reform of the copyright laws aimed at by the EU Parliament. According to the newspaper Der Standard, "Voss did not exactly shine with his specialist knowledge of the topic he was promoting". In February 2019, for example, ZEIT-Online accused him of failing to understand parts of the reform despite his role as rapporteur for the EU copyright reform and of making false or contradicting statements about the re-use of press articles by private individuals, the Internet platforms affected by the reform and the right Images. In the meantime, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, he gave the impression that “he doesn't really know how Google works.” VDZ association official Rudolf Thiemann , who advocated the reform, praised the “prudence”, the “sense of proportion” in an interview with Focus "And the" willingness to compromise "with which Voss advocated the project. On March 15, 2019, Voss received a bomb threat against his office in Bonn .

On March 26, 2019, the controversial copyright reform was adopted by the EU Parliament with 348 votes to 274. One year after the reform was passed, the newspaper Die Zeit concluded that Voss had "won" but had "become the object of hatred for a whole generation". In the video The Destruction of the CDU, for example, he was referred to as an example of “incompetence among CDU people”. Most recently, his draft reforms were criticized by scientists and technology companies as well as rights holders such as the European film industry and author organizations such as freelance writers.

EU class actions in consumer protection

Voss is also a staunch opponent of the plans presented by the European Commission in 2018 (COM (2018) 184) to introduce collective redress for European consumers. In his opinion, the proposals are based too much on the US system, which, according to Voss, does not bring the consumer any advantages, generates enormous process costs and is extremely prone to discrimination and abuse. For the same reasons, he also speaks out against the possibility of third-party financing of class actions (e.g. through hedge funds) and against the introduction of the discovery procedure into European procedural law. Voss also warns that the unclear legal terms and the unclear place of jurisdiction in the proposed law would enable so-called ' forum shopping '. Consumer protection associations such as the VzBV do not see these dangers as the legal systems in Europe are structured differently than in the USA and therefore see the proposal as a massive step forward for consumer protection.

COVID-19 and contact tracking

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated containment measures , Voss pleaded in the context of the development of a smartphone app for digital contact tracking for users of the app to be granted more or earlier freedom (such as traveling and visiting public facilities) than Non-users. Critics warned against the emergence of a two-class society . In this context, he also spoke out in favor of central data storage. In view of the pandemic, data protection should not be absolute, he explained in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Critical voices saw this as an attack on data protection and expressed ethical concerns.

Web links

Commons : Axel Voss  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Axel Voss website. Retrieved June 3, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Your MEPs. CDU / CSU group in the European Parliament, accessed on June 3, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Axel Voss. European Parliament, accessed on 3 June 2020 .
  4. ↑ Axel Voss website. Retrieved June 3, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Sylvia Binner: Axel Voss takes over the helm in the CDU . Daily newspaper dated December 11, 2004. General Gazette Bonn.
  6. ↑ Lisa Inhoffen and Judith Nikula: "Green by far the strongest force in Bonn" general-anzeiger-bonn.de from May 26, 2019, accessed on May 27, 2019
  7. ↑ Axel Voss. European Parliament, accessed on 3 June 2020 .
  8. ↑ Your MEPs. CDU / CSU group in the European Parliament, accessed on June 3, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Axel Voss. European Parliament, accessed on 3 June 2020 .
  10. ↑ Axel Voss: Reports - as a shadow reporter. A8-0139 / 2016. European Parliament, April 12, 2016, accessed September 9, 2018 .
  11. ↑ An important step for European data protection: Axel Voss. Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
  12. ↑ TREND - magazine for social market economy (ed.): EU data protection - new regulations gamble away the digital future. 04/2015 edition. S. 22-23 .
  13. ↑ a b FAZ daily newspaper (ed.): Politics is the biggest problem in data protection . Print edition of November 24, 2015, p. 16 .
  14. ↑ a b GDPR leads to "great legal uncertainty". Schwarzwälder Bote, May 25, 2018, accessed June 15, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Do not overinterpret new EU rules on data protection. In: Website of the CDU / CSU group in the European Parliament. Retrieved June 15, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Focus (ed.): On the way to a digital Europe . Print edition 20/2018 of May 12, 2018, p. 66 .
  17. ^ LobbyPlag: Amendments . ( lobbyplag.eu [accessed August 3, 2017]).
  18. ^ LobbyPlag: Amendments . ( lobbyplag.eu [accessed August 3, 2017]).
  19. ↑ E-Privacy: EU states let regulation fail, Commission wants to restart. Heise.de, accessed on June 20, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Europe at a Glance, 25-17. Lawyers' Association, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Axel Voss: Comment: 'Digitization? Not with us ... ' Ed .: FAZ daily newspaper. Print edition from October 14, 2017.
  22. ^ The tricky discussion about EU-wide data protection. Deutschlandfunk, accessed on June 20, 2020 .
  23. ↑ ePrivacy Debate: Conservative MEP compares his colleagues with the Iranian Guardian Council. In: netzpolitik.org. Retrieved June 20, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Plenary Debates - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - US NSA surveillance program and surveillance agencies in various member states; their impact on the privacy of EU citizens (debate). Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
  25. ↑ EU-US data protection agreement: Strict protection with loopholes? Euractiv, accessed June 15, 2020 .
  26. ↑ EU Parliament wants to suspend Swift agreement. (No longer available online.) In: heute-Nachrichten. November 2, 2013, archived from the original on November 2, 2013 ; Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
  27. ↑ Javier Cáceres: EU Parliament wants to stop data transfer to the USA , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung of October 23, 2013.
  28. ↑ Kilian Froitzhuber: Axel Voss (CDU): The USA must not be forced to break in, that's why we give the data voluntarily. In: netzpolitik.org. December 6, 2013, accessed March 28, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Plenary debates - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - EU-Australia agreement on the processing of passenger name records and their transmission (debate). Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Stefan Krempl: EU Parliament approves the transfer of passenger data to the USA. In: Heise Online. April 19, 2012, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  31. ↑ a b heise online: EU copyright reform: Last-minute lobbying against online censorship. Retrieved June 29, 2018 .
  32. ↑ EU copyright reform: majority for upload filters and ancillary copyright wobbles. In: heise online. Retrieved June 29, 2018 .
  33. ^ Stefan Krempl, Andreas Wilkens: Copyright filter: EU reporter Voss accuses opponents of "fake news" . In: Heise Online on July 3, 2081, accessed on March 25, 2019.
  34. ↑ EU copyright reform: Like the monkeys on the typewriter - Golem.de . ( golem.de [accessed June 29, 2018]).
  35. ^ Sascha Lobo: Upload filter and copyright: Germany, the land of digital Trumpism . In: Spiegel Online . June 27, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed June 29, 2018]).
  36. ↑ #Saveyourinternet: Save the Freedom of Information Today , t3n Newsletter, August 26, 2018, accessed on March 25, 2019.
  37. ^ Daniel AJ Sokolov: Big Brother Award for Axel Voss and his upload filters . In: Heise Online on October 25, 2018, accessed on March 25, 2019.
  38. ↑ Big Brother Awards for face scanners in pharmacies and CDU politicians. futurezone.at, October 25, 2018, accessed on October 26, 2018.
  39. ↑ Daniela Leistikow, Udo Lewalter, Christian Hensen, Sarah Ignor, Claudia Brüggen-Freye, Jan Michelsen, Rainer Schuldt, Janina Carlsen and Przemyslaw Szymanski: Article 17: Does the Copyright Directive violate fundamental rights? In: Computer Bild. March 2, 2020, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  40. ↑ 50,000 against Axel Voss - the Article 13 demo in Berlin. In: Watson.de. March 19, 2013, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  41. ↑ heise online: EU copyright scandal: Dorothee Bär and network politicians against upload filters. In: heise.de. Retrieved June 29, 2018 .
  42. ↑ “Father” of the new EU copyright law doesn't know what was decided. In: The Standard. September 14, 2018, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  43. ↑ Alexander Fanta: Copyright: Axel Voss does not know exactly what is in his law. In: Netzpolitik.org. September 13, 2018, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  44. ^ Friedhelm Greis: The copyright freely after Axel Voss. Zeit.de, February 23, 2019.
  45. ↑ Jannis Brühl: "Shot with a shotgun on Youtube and hit half the Internet". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. May 7, 2019, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  46. ↑ Florian Festl: Publisher fends off prejudices against copyright law: “Fear of censorship is unfounded”. Focus.de, March 23, 2019.
  47. ↑ Michael Hanfeld: "Bomb threat against CDU politician Voss" Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from March 15, 2019
  48. ↑ Stefan Krempl: "Copyright reform: EU Parliament beckons upload filter and ancillary copyright through" Heise.de from March 26, 2019
  49. ↑ Lisa Hegemann: How did you get through the last year? In: Zeit Online. January 8, 2020, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  50. ↑ Debate in the JURI Committee - Part 1. In: European Parliament. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
  51. ↑ Debate in the JURI Committee - Part 2. European Parliament, accessed on June 20, 2020 .
  52. ↑ Complain together - How consumers can defend themselves against companies. Deutschlandfunk, accessed on June 12, 2020 .
  53. ↑ Business associations warn against “blackmail” through class actions in the EU. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
  54. ↑ a b Thomas Gutschker, Brussels: Interview with Axel Voss: "Anyone who has the app should be allowed to go back to the restaurant first" . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed May 9, 2020]).
personal data
SURNAME Voss, Axel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (CDU), MEP
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamelin