Clemens Binninger

Clemens Binninger
File:Clemens Binninger 2010.jpg
Member of the Bundestag
Incumbent
Assumed office 2002
Personal details
Born	(1962-04-24) 24 April 1962 Bonndorf, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany (now Germany)
Citizenship	German
Nationality	Germany
Political party	CDU
Alma mater	Hochschule für Polizei Baden-Württemberg (HfPolBW) Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei (DHPOL)
Occupation	Politician

Clemens Binninger (born 24 April 1962 in Bonndorf, Baden-Württemberg) is a German politician and member of the CDU (conservative party). Binninger is a member of the Bundestag.

Political career

Binninger was first elected in the 2002 elections and then re-elected in 2005, 2009 and 2013, representing the electoral district of Böblingen. Before becoming member of the German parliament, he used to work in police services and also as head of division in the department of the interior of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Binninger is a full member of the Committee of Internal Affairs and deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel (PKGr), which provides parliamentary oversight of Germany’s intelligence services BND, BfV and MAD. In April 2014, he briefly served as head of the German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal but stepped down after six days. He is also a member of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group.

In addition, Binninger is a member of the International Police Association (IPA) and the German-American-center/James F. Byrnes Institute Stuttgart. He was rewarded for special accomplishments in constitutional law.

Political positions

When German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble announced plans in 2008 to set up a central communications monitoring agency in Cologne for use by the police and intelligence agencies, modeled after the US's NSA and the UK's GCHQ, Binninger publicly expressed his support for the proposal, calling it "an ideal concentration of know-how."

Controversy

In April 2014, the Left Party and the Greens sought to petition for a subpoena to Edward Snowden in the very first session of the German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal, but Binninger's CDU/CSU parliamentary group rejected the move. Indeed, Binninger unexpectedly resigned in response, saying that he stepped down to protest opposition efforts to turn the committee into a "Snowden circus." In his statement, Binninger said that Snowden was not of particular interest as a witness.

Other activities

• Research Forum on Public Safety at the Free University of Berlin, Member of the Steering Committee
• Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), Baden-Württemberg chapter, President
• International Police Association (IPA), Member
• German European Security Association (GESA), Member of the Executive Board (2009–2013)
• Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS), Member of the Advisory Board (2005–2012)

External links

• Official website (German)