Evelyne Gebhardt (born 19 January, 1954 in Paris) is a German politician. Since 1994 she has been a Member of the European Parliament representing the SPD. Her main interests are bio-ethics, consumer protection and citizens' rights. Ms Gebhardt studied at the University of Paris, the University of Tübingen and the University of Stuttgart, studying linguistics, political science and political economy. She subsequently worked as a freelance translator, and moved to Germany in 1975. Since 1992 she has been Chair of the Working Group of Social-Democratic Women. In 1999, she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit (with ribbon).
Activities within the European Parliament
Evelyne Gebhardt is a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and of the Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China. She is also a substitute member for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula. She is best known for her role in shaping the controversial Services Directive in 2005 and 2006. The directive had aimed at opening up the European Single Market to competition amongst service providers but was, after much political pressure from mostly western and southern EU countries, subsequently watered down by the European Parliament. Evelyne Gebhardt was parliamentary rapporteur for the directive and played an important role in facilitating an agreement with the European People's Party which allowed Parliament to pass the directive with a huge majority and thereby forcing EU governments to follow their line.
