Federal Cabinet officially proposes Specht-Riemenschneider as BfDI
Bonn lawyer Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider is to be elected Federal Data Protection Commissioner in the Bundestag next week.
Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider at an event in Bonn in February.
(Bild: Volker Lannert / Universität Bonn)
At its cabinet meeting today, the Federal Government officially proposed the legal scholar Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider as the new Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) called Specht-Riemenschneider "outstandingly qualified to fill the important, independent office of Federal Data Protection Commissioner and to set important accents there".
According to the Federal Data Protection Act, the Minister of the Interior must formally propose the candidate to the cabinet. Specht-Riemenschneider was selected by the FDP and the Greens to take over the management of the authority in Bonn as a non-party lawyer to succeed the previous and only acting incumbent Ulrich Kelber.
It remains to be seen when Specht-Riemenschneider will actually take office. However, she is to be elected by parliament in the coming week of the Bundestag session. She will need a majority of the official number of seats, which is considered certain due to the coalition majority. However, she will not actually take office until she is officially appointed by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD).
(dahe)
