Karoline Edtstadler

Karoline Edtstadler (born 28 March 1981) is an Austrian lawyer and politician who has been serving as minister for the EU and the constitution at the Austrian Chancellery in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz since 2020.

Karoline Edtstadler
Edtstadler in 2020
Member of the European Parliament
for Austria
In office
2 July 2019[1][2] – 6 January 2020
State Secretary of the Interior
In office
18 December 2017 – 3 June 2019
ChancellorSebastian Kurz
MinisterHerbert Kickl
Eckart Ratz
Personal details
Born (1981-03-28) 28 March 1981
Salzburg, Salzburg state, Austria[3]
Political party Austrian People's Party
European People's Party

From 2017 until 2019, Edtstadler served as state secretary in the Ministry of the Interior.[4]

Early life and career

Edtstadler is the daughter of former director of the Salzburg state provincial parliament Karl W. Edtstadler, and was raised in Elixhausen in the Salzburg-Umgebung district.[4] She attended elementary school in Elixhausen and went on to the Salzburg Fine Arts Grammar School. Edtstadler studied law at the University of Salzburg and graduated in 2004 with a magistra degree. Court internships at the Mondsee district court and at the Salzburg Regional Court followed. In 2006 she became a judge's candidate at the higher regional court of Linz and in 2008 she became a judge at the Salzburg regional court.[4][5]

In 2010 Edtstadler passed relatively heavy sentences on two upstanding brothers, who had been charged with injuring a police officer at a demonstration against the asylum policy of minister of the interior Maria Fekter. The higher regional court of Linz reversed the judgements in significant points, as even the public prosecutor considered the sentences to be too heavy.[4][6] The president of the regional court Hans Rathgeb praised Edtstadler's work at the court: "She was a very goal-oriented and experienced judge".[4]

In October 2011, Edtstadler moved to Section IV (Criminal Law) in the Ministry of Justice. From 2014, she was a personal expert in the cabinet of Minister of Justice Wolfgang Brandstetter, where she was involved in the reform of the criminal code and of criminal law relating to young offenders. In early 2015, she became Senior Prosecutor at the Vienna Corruption Prosecutor's Office, while she remained assigned to the Ministry of Justice. From May 2016 she was a legal employee at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg.[5][4]

Political career

Career in national politics

From 2004 to 2006, Edtstadler served as councilor in Henndorf am Wallersee for the ÖVP.

From 2017 until 2019, Edtstadler served as secretary of state in the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.[6][7]

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–2020

In the 2019 European elections, Edtstadler was number two on her party's list, following Othmar Karas.[8] As Member of the European Parliament, she served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and on the Subcommittee on Human Rights. Within the centre-right European People's Party Group (EPP), she led the ÖVP delegation.

Return to national politics

Since 2020, Edtstadler has been serving as minister for the EU and the constitution at the Austrian Chancellery in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. In addition, she has been cho-chairing of the EPP European Affairs Ministers Meeting (alongside Helen McEntee), which gathers the center-right EPP ministers ahead of meetings of the General Affairs Council (GAC).[9]

Personal life

Edtstadler has a son and lives in Salzburg.[4][5]

References
  1. "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. Interior Ministry of Austria. "Herbert Kickl". Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  4. "Salzburgerin Edtstadler neue Staatssekretärin" (in German). 2017-12-16. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  5. "Karoline Edtstadler: Salzburger Richterin als Staatssekretärin im Innenministerium". www.kleinezeitung.at (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  6. Nachrichten, Salzburger. "Karoline Edtstadler - Salzburgerin ist ÖVP-Staatssekretärin im Innenministerium" (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  7. Joanna Plucinska and Laurens Cerulus (August 29, 2018), Austrians race to wrap up digital single market Politico Europe.
  8. Weisskircher, Manès. "The European Parliament elections: Trouble in paradise for Austria's right-wing government?". European Politics and Policy. The London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  9. Council of the EU and Ministerial meetings European People’s Party (EPP).
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