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Created page with "{{Short description|Austrian politician serving as First Vice-President of the European Parliament}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Othmar Karas | image = Karas, Othmar-2508.jpg | office = First Vice-President of the European Parliament | president = Roberta Metsola | term_start = 18 January 2022 | term_end = | predecessor = Roberta Metsol..."

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{{Short description|Austrian politician serving as First Vice-President of the European Parliament}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Othmar Karas
| image = Karas, Othmar-2508.jpg
| office = [[Vice President of the European Parliament|First Vice-President of the European Parliament]]
| president = [[Roberta Metsola]]
| term_start = 18 January 2022
| term_end =
| predecessor = [[Roberta Metsola]]
| office1 = [[Vice-President of the European Parliament]]
|alongside1 = ''[[Vice-President of the European Parliament#9th Parliament|See List]]''
| president1 = [[David Sassoli]]
| term_start1 = 3 July 2019
| term_end1 = 18 January 2022
|alongside2 = ''[[Vice-President of the European Parliament#7th Parliament|See List]]''
| president2 = [[Martin Schulz]] [[Gianni Pittella]] (acting)
| term_start2 = 18 January 2012
| term_end2 = 30 June 2014
| office3 = [[Member of the European Parliament]] for [[Austria (European Parliament constituency)|Austria]]
| term_start3 = 1 July 1999
| term_end3 =
| office4 = Leader of the [[Austrian People's Party]] in the [[European Parliament]]
| leader4 = [[Wolfgang Schüssel]] [[Wilhelm Molterer]] [[Josef Pröll]] [[Michael Spindelegger]] [[Reinhold Mitterlehner]] [[Sebastian Kurz]]
| term_start4 = 1 July 1999
| term_end4 = 2019
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|12|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Ybbs an der Donau]], [[Austria]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = [[Austrian People's Party]]
| otherparty = [[European People's Party]]
| spouse = Christa Waldheim
| children = 2
| education = [[University of Vienna]] [[University of St. Gallen]]
| website = {{url|othmar-karas.at|Official website}}
}}
'''Othmar Karas''' (born 24 December 1957) is an [[Austria]]n politician who has been serving as the First Vice-President of the European Parliament since January 2022,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2022-01-18|title=Parliament's new Vice-Presidents {{!}} News {{!}} European Parliament|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220114IPR21013/parliament-s-new-vice-presidents|access-date=2022-01-18|website=www.europarl.europa.eu|language=en}}</ref> having been a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) since 1999. He is a member of the [[Austrian People's Party]] (ÖVP), which in turn affiliates with the [[European People's Party]].

Karas sits on the [[European Parliament]]'s [[European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs|Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs]] and the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect. Between 2012 and 2022, he was one of the [[Vice President of the European Parliament|vice presidents of the European Parliament]]. He was elected as First Vice-President on 18 January 2022.<ref name=":0" />

==Education and early career==
* Manager in the banking and insurance sector (since 1981)
* Magister of Philosophy, political science, University of Vienna (1996)
* Master of European and International Business Law (MBL), [[University of St. Gallen]] (1997)
* Doctor of Philosophy, political science, University of Vienna (2017)
* Assistant Secretary-General of [[Uniqa Insurance Group|Bundesländer Versicherung]] (currently on leave of absence)

==Political career==

===Beginnings===
* Federal president of the Union of Students (1976–1979)
* Political adviser to the ÖVP (1979–1980)
* First Vice-Chairman of the Austrian Federal Youth Association (1980–1990)
* Federal Chairman of the Young ÖVP (1981–1990)
* Member of the national executive of the ÖVP (1981–1991)
* Secretary-General of the ÖVP (1995–1999)
* Vice-President of the Young European Christian-Democrats (EUJCD) (1981–1990)
* Member of the EPP Bureau and Council (since 1995)
* Member of the steering committee of the [[European Democrat Union]] (EDU) (since 1995)
* Member of the [[National Council (Austria)|National Council]] (1983–1990)

===Member of the European Parliament, 1999–present===
Karas has been a [[Member of the European Parliament]] since the [[1999 European Parliament election in Austria|1999 European elections]]. He has since been serving on the [[Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs]]. In the past, he has in served as a substitute for the [[European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection|Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection]] and as member of the temporary committee on policy challenges and budgetary means of the enlarged Union 2007–2013. More recently, he was a member of the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect in 2015 and the Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion in 2016. In 2020, he also joined the Subcommittee on Tax Matters.<ref>[https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sed/doc/news/flash/24221/Full%20Members%20new%20committees_09-07-2020_en.pdf Members of the Subcommittee on Tax Matters] [[European Parliament]], press release of July 9, 2020.</ref>

In the European Parliament, Karas has become one of the center-right's experts on [[financial regulation]]. As the [[rapporteur]] for the [[Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive|Capital Requirements Directive IV]], he played a central role in the parliamentary implementation of capital requirements agreed in the [[Basel III]] accords.<ref>Silke Wettach (October 6, 2010), [http://www.politico.eu/article/consensus-builder/ Consensus builder] ''[[European Voice]]''.</ref> He helped negotiate a 2013 agreement on an EU-wide cap on [[bankers' bonuses]].<ref>John O'Donnell and Claire Davenport (February 28, 2013), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-bonus-idUSBRE91R12O20130228 EU clinches deal to cap bankers' bonuses] ''[[Reuters]]''.</ref> Alongside [[Liêm Hoang Ngoc]], he later co-drafted a controversial 2014 report highlighting problems with the European Union-led bail-outs of [[Greece]], [[Economic Adjustment Programme for Portugal|Portugal]], [[2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis|Cyprus]] and [[Ireland]] during the [[European debt crisis]].<ref>Nicholas Hirst (March 13, 2015), [http://www.politico.eu/article/meps-temper-criticism-of-the-troika/ MEPs temper criticism of the troika] ''[[European Voice]]''.</ref>

In addition to his committee assignments, Karas has been the chairman of the parliament's delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee since 2014. He previously serves as member of the delegation for relations with [[Japan]] and as substitute for the delegation for relations with the [[People's Republic of China]].

Within his political bloc, the centre-right [[European People's Party Group]], Karas served as the group's spokesperson on economic affairs from 2002 until 2004 and as vice-president and treasurer from 2004 until 2011. From 2011 until 2019, he led the ÖVP delegation within the EPP group.

In the [[2009 European Parliament election in Austria|2009 European elections]], the ÖVP leadership replaced Karas by [[Ernst Strasser]] as its lead candidate for the European Parliament;<ref>Silke Wettach (October 6, 2010), [http://www.politico.eu/article/consensus-builder/ Consensus builder] ''[[European Voice]]''.</ref> Strasser later had to resign as a consequence of the [[2011 cash for influence scandal]]. Ahead of the [[2014 European Parliament election in Austria|2014 European elections]], the ÖVP re-nominated Karas as its lead candidate. At the time, he was considered by Austrian media as a possible successor to [[Johannes Hahn]] as Austrian nominee for [[European Commissioner]].<ref>Thomas Mayer (May 7, 2014), [http://derstandard.at/1397522671040/Othmar-Karas-koennte-Johannes-Hahn-als-EU-Kommissar-ersetzen Othmar Karas könnte Johannes Hahn als EU-Kommissar ersetzen] ''[[Der Standard]]''.</ref>

Since the [[2019 European Parliament election]], Karas has been serving as one of its [[Vice-President of the European Parliament|Vice-Presidents]]; in this capacity, he is part of the Parliament's leadership under President [[David Sassoli]].<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190627IPR55411/the-new-european-parliament-vice-presidents The new European Parliament Vice-Presidents] [[European Parliament]], press release of July 3, 2019.</ref><ref>[https://diepresse.com/home/ausland/eu/5653895/Karas-zum-Vizepraesidenten-des-EUParlaments-gewaehlt Karas zum Vizepräsidenten des EU-Parlaments gewählt] ''[[Die Presse]]'', July 3, 2019.</ref>

In 2021, Karas was appointed to the [[European People's Party group|EPP group]]'s task force for proposing changes to its rules of procedure to allow for “the possibility of the collective termination of membership of a group of Members rather than just individual membership”, alongside [[Esteban González Pons]], [[Jan Olbrycht]], [[Esther de Lange]] and [[Paulo Rangel]].<ref>Mia Bartoloni (January 15, 2021), [https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/movers-and-shakers-15-january-2021 Movers and Shakers] ''[[The Parliament Magazine]]''.</ref>

In late 2021, Karas announced his candidacy to succeed Sassoli as [[President of the European Parliament]].<ref>Maïa de La Baume (16 November 2021), [https://www.politico.eu/article/roberta-metsola-european-parliament-president-epp-david-sassoli/ Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola will seek Parliament presidency] ''[[Politico Europe]]''.</ref> The EPP selected Roberta Metsola as their candidate for President to succeed Sassoli, and she was elected President on 18 January 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Roberta Metsola elected European Parliament president in landslide victory|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/roberta-metsola-elected-european-parliament-president-in-landslide.928588|access-date=2022-01-18|website=Times of Malta|language=en-gb}}</ref> On the same day, Karas was elected First Vice-President of the European Parliament.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2022-01-18|title=Parliament's new Vice-Presidents {{!}} News {{!}} European Parliament|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220114IPR21013/parliament-s-new-vice-presidents|access-date=2022-01-18|website=www.europarl.europa.eu|language=en}}</ref>

==Political positions==
Following the 2014 elections, Karas joined fellow MEPs [[Sven Giegold]], [[Sylvie Goulard]], [[Sophie in 't Veld]] and [[Alessia Mosca]] in an [[open letter]] aimed at exerting pressure on the [[President of the European Commission]] and national government leaders during the nominations process to improve the [[gender balance]] in the composition of the [[European Commission]].<ref>Cynthia Kroet (June 26, 2014), [http://www.politico.eu/article/a-shortage-of-women-round-the-commission-table/ A shortage of women round the Commission table] ''[[European Voice]]''.</ref>

In 2020, Karas led an initiative of nearly 40 other EPP members who pushed to expel [[Tamás Deutsch (politician) | Tamás Deutsch]] from their parliamentary group after the latter had compared comments made by group leader [[Manfred Weber]] to the slogans of the [[Gestapo]] and Hungary's communist-era secret police; Deutsch was eventually suspended but not expelled from the group.<ref>Maïa de La Baume (December 17, 2020), [https://www.politico.eu/article/epp-sanctions-head-of-viktor-orbans-meps-hungary-tamas-deutsch/ EPP sanctions head of Viktor Orbán’s MEPs] ''[[Politico Europe]]''.</ref>

==Timeline of positions held==
* Hilfswerk Austria, President (since 1998)
* [[Political Academy of the Austrian People's Party]], Vice-President
* Austrian Society for China Studies (ÖGCF), Member of the Presidium
* Austrian Association of Graduates, Member of the Board
* Institute for Public Social Responsibility, Member of the Board of Trustees
* Kangaroo Group, President (2009-2013), Member of the Board (since 2013)

==EU expenses scandal==
In 2005, EU parliamentarian Hans Peter Martin revealed that Karas collected thousands of euros of "daily allowance" of 262 euros a day, even though he was often only in Brussels for a few hours on those days or it was a matter of holiday weeks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news.at/a/neuer-eu-spesen-skandal-umstrittene-unterschriften-vp-karas-104735|title=- Neuer EU-Spesen-Skandal: Umstrittene Unterschriften von VP-Karas|last=GmbH|first=news networld Internetservice|date=2005-02-09|website=news.at|language=de|access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref>

==Awards==
* 2003 – [[Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria]]

==Private life==
Karas is married to Dr. Christa Waldheim-Karas, daughter of [[Kurt Waldheim]] and [[Elisabeth Waldheim]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karas, Othmar}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Austrian People's Party MEPs]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Othmar Karas - Revision history