Benita Ferrero-Waldner

Benita Ferrero-Waldner (2017)

Benita Ferrero-Waldner , b. Benita-Maria Waldner (born September 5, 1948 in Salzburg ) is a former Austrian diplomat and politician ( ÖVP ). From 2000 to 2004 she was Austrian Foreign Minister under Wolfgang Schüssel and under José Manuel Barroso from 2004 to 2009 EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy and from 2009 to 2010 EU Commissioner for Trade .

Life

Ferrero-Waldner grew up as the daughter of the dentist Bruno Waldner and his wife Emmy in Oberndorf near Salzburg , graduated from the Realgymnasium in Salzburg in 1966 and studied law at the University of Salzburg , where she qualified as a Dr. iur. PhD .

Between 1971 and 1983 she worked as an export manager or assistant to the management of two companies in the German border town of Freilassing ( Paul Kiefel GmbH and Gerns & Gahler GmbH) and for three years as an export manager for an American company in New York (P. Kaufmann Inc.).

In 1984 she switched to the Austrian diplomatic service : From 1984 she was in the foreign service in Madrid , Dakar , Paris and deputy chief of protocol in the Foreign Ministry . Under UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, she held the post of First Chief of Protocol at the United Nations in New York in 1994 .

On May 4, 1995, she moved to the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs as State Secretary for the ÖVP , an office that she held until February 2000 during the coalition government with the SPÖ . At the same time, she was a member of the National Council in brief phases before the formation of a government . First on January 15, 1996, last until March 4, 2003.

On February 4, 2000 she was sworn in by Federal President Thomas Klestil as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Government Schüssel I , which she remained in his second term in office (2003).

Benita Ferrero-Waldner (left) with Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (right).

Ferrero-Waldner was criticized for her actions on the occasion of the arrest of part of the Viennese artist collective Volxtheaterkarawane after the G8 summit in Genoa in July 2001 . For example, she had allegedly incriminating evidence, which later turned out to be inconclusive, as well as a police note forwarded to the Italian authorities. After losing the presidential election, Ferrero-Waldner apologized for her actions and spoke of a "hangover in her career". From a legal point of view, however, this approach was impeccable.

In the federal presidential election on April 25, 2004, Ferrero-Waldner stood as a candidate for the ÖVP. She lost the election against Heinz Fischer ( SPÖ ), who got 52.4% of the vote. The turnout was about 71%. She was supported by Jörg Haider after an " FPÖ hearing" .

Careers in the EU

Ferrero Waldner with Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Condoleezza Rice at the Energy Forum of the EU and the United States.

From November 18, 2004 to November 30, 2009, Ferrero-Waldner was European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy in the EU Commission Barroso . She handed over the office of Austrian Foreign Minister to Ursula Plassnik (ÖVP) on October 20, 2004 . From December 1, 2009, she succeeded Catherine Ashton in the transition period until the Barroso II Commission took office as Commissioner for Trade until February 9, 2010 and kept the European Neighborhood Policy from her previous portfolio .

EU Foreign Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner was made an honorary citizen of Sofia on September 17, 2007 for her commitment to the release of the Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in the HIV trial in Libya . Ferrero-Waldner also received the highest Bulgarian award, the "Stara Planina" order from the hands of the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanow .

In September 2009, Benita Ferrero-Waldner lost in the election for the post of Secretary General of the Bulgarian candidate Irina Bokova .

Private sector

After leaving the EU Commission on February 9, 2010, Ferrero-Waldner switched to the private sector. She has been a member of Munich Re's Supervisory Board since February 12, 2010 . From February 24, 2010 to February 2013, she sat on the supervisory board of the Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa . From 2011 to March 2013 she was a member of the supervisory board of Alpine Holding . Ferrero-Waldner has been a partner in the Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo law firm in Madrid since July 2014 . She has been a member of the Board of Directors of Gas Natural Fenosa since March 2015 .

voluntary work

Ferrero-Waldner has been President of the Spanish Fundación Euroamérica since 2011 . From 2010 to 2015 she was President of the EU-Latin America-Caribbean Foundation . She also does other voluntary work for the foundations Bertelsmann España, Fundación Princesa de Girona and formerly for FRIDE (Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo). She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Novia Salcedo Foundation .

Private life

Benita-Maria Waldner married the German middle school teacher Wolfgang Sterr in 1973. The marriage was divorced in 1983. Ten years later she married the Spanish university professor Francisco 'Paco' Ferrero Campos and has had a double name since then . The literary scholar Ferrero Campos married her after publicly discussed marriage annulment of her first marriage on 21 December 2003 at the Archbishop's Palace in Salzburg also church . Ferrero Campos was then director of the Instituto Cervantes in Vienna.

In her biography on the website of the Austrian Parliament , Ferrero-Waldner states that she has been doing without her hyphenated first name Maria since January 13, 1996 .

Ferrero-Waldner has lived in Madrid since 2010 and has a second home in Baden (Lower Austria) .

Awards

Presentation of the Dr. Alois Mock Europe Prize (2017)

• Large Silver Decoration on Ribbon for Services to the Republic of Austria (1999)
• Grand Commander of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas (2003)
• Large Decoration of Honor in Gold on Ribbon for Services to the Republic of Austria (2010)
• Large Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Grand Cross of the Belgian Order of King Leopold II.
• Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the French Republic
• Grand Cross of the Greek Order of Honor
• Grand Cross of the Pro Merito Melitensi Order of Merit of the Sovereign Order of Malta
• Grand Cross of the Norwegian Order of Merit
• Grand Cross of the Swedish North Star Order
• Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic (1995)
• Premio Blanquerna
• Austrian Abroad of the Year (2015)
• Alois Mock European Prize (2016)

literature

• Ewald König : Benita. Where there is a will, there is a way. Experiences of the European and cosmopolitan Benita Ferrero-Waldner '', Böhlau Verlag Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2017, ISBN 978-3-205-206200

Web links

Commons : Benita Ferrero-Waldner  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Benita Ferrero-Waldner on the website of the Austrian Parliament
• Literature by and about Benita Ferrero-Waldner in the catalog of the German National Library
• EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner
• Material collection for VolxTheaterKarawane and Ferrero-Waldner
• Radio recordings with Benita Ferrero-Waldner in the online archive of the Austrian Media Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dr. Benita FERRERO-WALDNER - curriculum vitae europarl.europa.eu, accessed: January 29, 2018
2. ^ The members of the Barroso Commission (2004-2009). Benita Ferrero-Waldner. ( Memento of March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Entry on the website of the European Commission. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
3. ↑ Benita Ferrero-Waldner joins Gamesa as an Independent Board Member ( Memento from January 29, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) siemensgamesa.com, February 24, 2010
4. ↑ Europe's Curriculum Vitae - CV Ferrero-Waldner lateinamerikaverein.de, accessed: January 29, 2018
5. ↑ Abogados: Benita Ferrero-Waldner cremadescalvosotelo.com, accessed: January 29, 2018
6. ↑ Fainé, Garmendia, Ferrero Waldner y Belil, consejeros de Gas Natural elperiodico.com, March 27, 2015
7. ^ La Austriaca Benita Ferrero-Waldner, nueva presidenta de la Fundación Euroamérica amecopress.net, March 17, 2011
8. ↑ Austrian Abroad 2015 (page 15) weltbund.at, April 2015
9. ↑ FPdGI: Consejo Asesor fpdgi.org, accessed: January 29, 2018
10. ↑ Benita Ferrero-Waldner - Trustee of FRIDE fride.org, accessed: January 29, 2018
11. ↑ 2016 Report: Shared Stories noviasalcedo.es, accessed: January 29, 2018
12. ^ Irritations to Ferrero-Waldner's marriage annulment. ( Memento from April 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) News from stjosef.at, January 10, 2004. Accessed on November 24, 2010.
13. ↑ Dr. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, biography. Retrieved October 25, 2017 . 
14. ↑ "An incorrigible optimist" kas.de, November 8, 2017
15. ↑ "The EU must become stronger" kurier.at, August 18, 2015
16. ^ Baden: Fire in Ferrero-Waldner's house. noe.ORF.at, September 20, 2005. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
17. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
18. ↑ Presented by the Federal President on October 22, 2010. Accessed on March 10, 2011.
19. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
20. ↑ Austrian Abroad of the Year . Retrieved September 3, 2016.
21. ↑ Schüssel and Spindelegger congratulate Ferrero-Waldner and Miro Gavran on their Dr. Alois Mock Europe Prize . OTS notification dated December 22, 2017, accessed December 28, 2017.