Prior to being appointed President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2012, Hoyer served as Minister of State at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1998, and then from 2009 to 2012. During his second time as Minister of State, he was Germany’s official in charge of German-French relations. Hoyer ended his term as EIB President on 31 December 2023.
He has been a member of the Bundestag since 1987, served as chief whip from 1989 to 1993, and was his party’s spokesman for security policy from 1990 to 1994. From 2002 to 2009, he was deputy chair of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Between 2005 and 2009, he also served as Deputy Chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Werner Hoyer holds a PhD in economics from Cologne University, where he started his career as a senior research assistant in economics. He became an associate lecturer for foreign trade before moving to the Carl Duisberg Society as Director of the Economics and Information Department.
