Identification of fonds
Reference code:MEP 001BEE
Title:BEER, Angelika
Date(s): 01/01/2000 - 15/06/2009
Level of description: SUB-FONDS
Extent of the unit of description: approx. 2.5 lm
Creation context
Name of creator:Angelika BEER
Short biography
Born on 24.5.1957 in Germany, Angelika Beer was a Member of the European Parliament from 20.7.2004 to 13.7.2009.
She was a member of the Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance during the same period.
Within the EP, she successively held the following posts:
Management bodies
Conference of Delegation Chairs: Member from 2004 to 2009
Parliamentary committees
*Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET): Member from 2004 to 2009
*Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE): Member from 2004 to 2009
Delegations
*Delegation to the EU-Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia joint parliamentary committee: Substitute Member from 2004 to 2009
*Delegation for relations with Iran: Member in 2004, then Chair from 2004 to 2009
*Delegation for relations with Afghanistan: Member from 2007 to 2009
*Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly: Member from 2004 to 2009
Archival history
This archive collection was deposited with the historical archives department of the European Parliament in September 2011 in response to a call for expressions of interest with a view to the acquisition by the European Parliament of the private archives of Members and former Members accumulated in the exercise of their office.
The aim of this initiative is to make available to researchers and European citizens information about the history of European integration from the point of view of the work done by Members of the European Parliament.
STRUCTURE AND CONTENT
Structure of the fonds
The fonds forms part of the ‘MEP’ fonds - archives of Members of the European Parliament’. The fonds consists of sub-fonds, each devoted to a single Member. The sub-fonds of Mrs Beer is presented under the reference ‘001BEE’, meaning that it is the first sub-fonds to have been processed by CARDOC.
Each sub-fonds consists of main series and series corresponding to the Member's work in the exercise of his/her office.
Filing scheme from sub-fonds level to series level
SUB-FONDS LEVEL: 001BEE
- Main series level - MEP 001BEE 1000: Work by the Member relating to Iran
SERIES LEVEL
- MEP 001BEE 1005/DELE: European Parliament Delegation for relations with Iran
- MEP 001BEE 1010/POLI:Iran’s policy
- MEP 001BEE 1015/NUCL:Iran, nuclear programme
- MEP 001BEE 1020/DROI: Human rights in Iran
- Main series level - MEP 001BEE 1500: Participation in other parliamentary delegations
Series level
- MEP 001BEE 1505/KOSO: Delegation to the EU-Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia joint parliamentary committee
- MEP 001BEE 1510/AFGH: Delegation for relations with Afghanistan
- Main series level - MEP 001BEE 2000: Member’s commitment to fighting the extreme right
SERIES LEVEL
- MEP 001BEE 2005/EURO: Involvement in European-level campaigns against racism and xenophobia
- MEP 001BEE 2010/ALLE: Extreme right-wing demonstrations in Germany
- MEP 001BEE 2020/LAND: Land of Schleswig-Holstein
Content of the fonds
Archive presentation
The archive collection of A. Beer is organised in the light of the various activities performed during her Membership of the EP (2004-2009), but also in the light of her personal interests. All the documents presented are classified as part of three main series.
The main content of the series comprises:
The main series ‘Member’s work on Iran’ contains documents relating to A. Beer’s work as Chair of the Delegation for relations with Iran. The first sub-series details the work of the delegation. The next three sub-series present the political situation in Iran, its nuclear programme and the problem of respect for human rights in the country.
(Sub-series 1005/DELE to 1020/DROI)
The second main series, ‘Participation in other parliamentary delegations’, presents the Member’s work in other delegations to which she belonged. For example, her work in the delegation devoted to the Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia is shown in the first sub-series. The third sub-series illustrates her work with the Delegation for relations with Afghanistan.
(Sub-series 1505/KOSO and 1510/AFGH)
The last main series emphasises ‘the Member’s commitment to fighting the extreme right’. Her work at European level to combat racism and xenophobia is illustrated by the first sub-series. The next sub-series presents the particular cases of extreme right-wing demonstrations in Germany. Lastly, a sub-series devoted to the situation of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein completes the fonds.
(Sub-series 2005/EURO to 2020/LAND)
Within the series, the documents are assigned to 41 files, comprising a total of 210 documents.
Arrangement by subject
During her term of office, Angelika Beer, MEP, very soon began to take an interest in the political situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In order to learn more about the subject and become more involved, she decided to chair the Delegation for relations with Iran.
MEP 001BEE 1005/DELE DELE-010 0010:Note:Mrs Beer’s candidacy for the post of Delegation Chair
As Chair of the Delegation, Mrs Beer sought to act or to bring influence to bear on a number of sensitive issues. Several subjects are represented in her archive collection: Iran’s nuclear policy and programme, and respect for human rights in the country.
The Member was also very involved in combating the extreme right, both at European level and in Germany.
The Iranian nuclear programme:
Iran ratified the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1970, thereby undertaking not to manufacture nuclear weapons and not to try to obtain them. However, the country justified its uranium conversion programme by giving assurances that the only aim was to generate electricity. In order to restore confidence, in 2004 Iran announced a temporary, voluntary suspension of the programme. However, in August 2005, although still officially suspended, the uranium enrichment programme resumed after the election of Mr Ahmadinejad. From September, the European Union brought pressure to bear on the IAEA[1] to raise the problem before the UN Security Council.
The Member’s archives contain material concerning this problem and the exchanges with Iran:
MEP 001BEE 1005/DELE DELE-040 0020:Letter and correspondence with the Iranian diplomatic service:exchanges on nuclear issues
Mrs Beer also became involved by attending conferences and taking part in awareness-raising campaigns to mobilise public opinion about this sensitive subject.
MEP 001BEE 1015/NUCL NUCL-070 0020:Letter and notes concerning conferences dealing with the consequences of Iran’s nuclear programme
MEP 001BEE 1015/NUCL NUCL-080 0020:Letter, notes and communiqués associated with campaigns against the escalation of tension
She also acted as rapporteur, on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for two parliamentary reports on assistance regarding nuclear safety and security and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.[2]
Human rights in Iran:
After a period of democracy under Prime Minister Mossadeq in the early 1950s, the Khomeini Government imposed a return to Islamic fundamentals through the application of Sharia law from 1979. The Islamic Republic of Iran was established.
However, in 1997 reformists came to power, leading to the restoration of certain freedoms for a short time. These were lost again upon the election of Mr Ahmadinejad in 2005. In recent years, despite international criticism and particularly numerous statements by the European Union, the government has continue to restrict freedom of expression, repress political opponents, use torture and capital punishment and discriminate against women and minorities.
Angelika Beer was active with regard to these subjects, as the documents listed below demonstrate:
MEP 001BEE 1020/DROI DROI-040 0010:Letter, note and article concerning the situation of the Baha'I community
MEP 001BEE 1020/DROI DROI-050 0020:Letter concerning the situation of the Baluchis
MEP 001BEE 1020/DROI DROI-080 0020: Letter, motion for a resolution and communiqués concerning capital punishment and its modes of application
Campaigns against the extreme right:
From a more personal point of view, A. Beer campaigned against discrimination and sought to promote equality of opportunity and the development of an integration policy.
In 2004, for example, the Member supported the setting-up of the ‘Antiracism and diversity’ Intergroup within the EP.
MEP 001BEE 2005/EURO EURO-020 0020:Letter and note concerning the Antiracism and Diversity Intergroup (IG ARDI)
The increase in the number of extreme right-wing demonstrations worried the Group of the Greens. At the time of the 2009 European elections, A. Beer was active in a campaign entitled ‘No votes for the extreme right’. She said at that time: ‘European right-wing extremists are beginning to work together more closely. We therefore need to face up to the possible challenge of a pan-European network of right-wing extremists in next year's European Union elections’.
MEP 001BEE 2005/EURO EURO-020 0050:Letter and notes:campaign by the Verts/ALE Group for the European elections of 4-7/6/2009
The problem was that a change to the Rules of Procedure now permitted extreme right-wing national groupings to link up and form a political group within the EP. The required threshold for forming a political group became one of the issues in the 2009 election campaign.
MEP 001BEE 2005/EURO EURO-030 0050:Communiqué and articles concerning the Member’s opposition to the extreme right and to the ITS Group
[1] IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency
[2] A6-0397/2006: Nuclear Safety and Security Assistance.
A6-0234/2009: Non-proliferation and the future of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).