O

OECD: SeeOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OEEC: See Organisation for European Economic Co-operation

GÜNTHEROETTINGER (1953-) was successfully nominated by the re-elected Merkel Government as the prospective German Commissioner in the Barroso II Commission (2010-14) in the latter part of 2009. Oettinger replaced the muchrespected Günther Verheugen, and is responsible for the highly sensitive and important issue of energy (especially in terms of energy security). He may have been something of a surprise choice, but he has 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 becameMinister 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.