O

OECD: See Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OEEC: See Organisation for European Economic Co-operation

GÜNTHER OETTINGER (1953-) was successfully nominated by the reelected Merkel Government as the prospective German Commissioner in the Barroso II Commission (2010-14) in the latter part of 2009. Oettinger replaced the much-respected Günther Verheugen, and was responsible for the highly sensitive and important issue of energy (especially in terms of energy security). In September 2014 the President-elect of the Commission for 201419, Jean-Claude Juncker, named Oettinger as Commissioner-designate for the Digital Economy, subject to approval by the European Parliament EP). Prior to Oettinger’s appointment to the Commission, he had been active in German politics as a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for over 30 years. After reading law at the University of Tübingen and working in a legal firm he opted to focus his energies on a professional career in politics. He rapidly rose through the ranks. He became chairman of his local CDU branch in Ditzingen in 1977 and first entered the state (regional) parliament of Baden-Württemberg in 1984. He became Minister President of this state (Land) in 2004 following the resignation of his predecessor and he remained in the post (being successfully re-elected to head a coalition government with the Free Democrats in 2006) until he became a Commissioner. After securing the support of MEPs at his nomination hearing, and the approval of Juncker’s Commission by both the EP and the European Council in late October 2014, Oettinger began his second term as a European Commissioner on 1 November.