Maria Berger | |
Office: | Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Communities |
Term Start: | 7 October 2009 |
Constituency Mp2: | Austria |
Parliament2: | European |
Term Start2: | 11 December 2008 |
Term End2: | 13 July 2009 |
Term Start3: | 11 November 1996 |
Term End3: | 10 January 2007 |
Order4: | Justice Minister of Austria |
Term Start4: | 11 January 2007 |
Term End4: | 2 December 2008 |
Predecessor4: | Karin Gastinger |
Successor4: | Johannes Hahn |
Chancellor4: | Alfred Gusenbauer |
Birth Date: | 1956 8, df=y |
Birth Place: | Perg, Upper Austria |
Profession: | civil servant, politician |
Party: | SPÖ |
Maria Berger (born 19 August 1956 in Perg, Upper Austria) is an Austrian politician and currently Judge at the European Court of Justice. She previously served as a Member of the European Parliament and Austria's Minister of Justice.
Berger was a Member of the European Parliament since 1996, interrupted by her tenure as Austrian Justice Minister (20072008). She was also the leader of the Social Democratic Party delegation which is part of the Party of European Socialists, and served on the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs. On the committee, she served as her parliamentary group’s coordinator.[1] In addition, she later also was a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the parliament’s delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
Berger was also a substitute for the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, a member of the delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and a substitute for the delegation for relations with Canada.
In January 2007 Berger was appointed as Justice Minister in the government of Alfred Gusenbauer as Chancellor of Austria. After leaving office in December 2008 she returned to serve in the European Parliament till July 2009. Since October 2009 she is a member of the European Court of Justice.