Klaus Hänsch

Klaus Hänsch

Klaus Hänsch (born 15 December 1938, Sprottau, Schlesien) is a former MEP for Germany from Social Democratic Party of Germany (1979-2009).

Affiliations

• Member, Committee on Foreign Affairs
• Member, Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand
• Substitute, Committee on Constitutional Affairs
• Substitute, Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China

Record and Controversies

Declaration of Financial Interests

Support Received in Connection with Political Activities:

Financial:

• Lecture: "Die Zukunft der Europäischen Union – immer größer, immer tiefer, immer weiter?" ("The future of the European Union - always bigger, always deeper, always further?"), 04 May 2008, Hagen - remuneration and travel expenses granted by Institute for European Constitutional Science, the Open University, Hagen

In terms of material:

• German citizenship conferral of J.-C. Juncker, 19 February 2008, Berlin - Berlin-Strasbourg flight granted by Cabinet of Grand Duchy Luxembourg
• Book presentation of the book by Marchall Józef Zych in Sejm, 25 April 2008, Warsaw - hotel expenses granted by Sejm
• Speech on the occasion of the inauguration celebration of the Science Academy Poznan, 10 October 2008, Poznan - hotel expenses granted by Science Academy Poznan

Record of Parliamentary Votes

• Voted in favour of the directive on "establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy" (A5-0027/2000). The directive covers all water management aspects in order to achieve a 'good status' of all waters by 2015.
• Voted against the directive on "national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants" (A5-0063/2000). The amendment allows setting less ambitious national emission ceilings for sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), which would result in more damage to human health and the environment.
• Voted against the Commission White Paper on "Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy" (A5-0356/2001). The amendment helps avoid the necessary precautionary approach towards some chemical substances that are not proven to be completely safe.
• Voted in favour of the directive on "waste electrical and electronic equipment" (A5-0100/2002). The amendment sets higher reuse and recycling rates for IT and telecommunication equipment. Rejected due to lack of absolute majority.
• Voted in favour of the report on "Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network" (A5-0135/2002). The Trans-European Network of Transport (TEN-T) is a network of so-called 'transport corridors' through Europe. This amendment calls for a full Strategic Environmental Assessment of these transport corridors and calls on the Commission to improve methods for analysing the environmental and economic impact of the TEN-T.
• Voted against the regulation concerning "traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms" (A5-0229/2002). The amendment allows customers the right to choose GM free food.
• Voted in favour of the directive on restructuring the "Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity" (A5-0302/2003). The amendment aims at giving tax benefits to environmentally friendly sources of energy, which would make them cheaper and more competitive to conventional (more polluting) sources of energy. It also gives tax benefits to environmentally friendly uses of energy for transport, for instance trains. Rejected due to lack of absolute majority.
• Voted in favour of the amendment on Bulgaria’s progress towards accession (A5-0105/2004). The report objects to extending the life of the nuclear power stations in Bulgaria. Adopted.

Personal Information

Curriculum Vitae

• Politics degree (1965).
• PhD (1969). Honorary professor (1994).
• University assistant (1965-1969).
• Journalist (1969-1970).
• University lecturer (1976-1994).
• Chairman of Mettmann area SPD (1972-1986).
• Press officer, Ministry of Science, North Rhine-Westphalia (1970-1979).
• Member of the European Parliament (since 1979).
• Chairman, Delegation for relations with the United States (1987-1989).
• Vice-Chairman of the Socialist Group (1989-1994 and 1997-2002).
• President of the European Parliament (1994-1997).
• Member of Presidium, Constitutional Convention (2002-2003).
• European Parliament representative at the Intergovernmental Conference on the EU Constitution (2003-2004).

Contact

Address:

Phone:

Email:

klaus.haensch@spd.de

Website:

http://www.klaus-haensch.de

This article is part of the MEPedia project of Spinwatch.

Resources

• European Parliament, Erklärung der finanziellen Interessen der Mitglieder: Klaus Hänsch, 20 January 2009, accessed 11 March 2009.
• European Parliament, MEP Directory: Klaus Hänsch, accessed 11 March 2009.
• European Parliament, MEP Directory: Klaus Hänsch, accessed 19 November 2010.
• Friends of the Earth, EU Vote Watch, accessed 11 March 2009.