In 1972, Hoyer became a member of the FDP, and was a board member of the
Young Liberals from 1983 to 1986. He chaired the local party board in Cologne from 1984 to 1992, and became a member of the FDP board in
North Rhine-Westphalia in 1984 and the federal FDP board in 1994. Under the leadership of
Klaus Kinkel, he was Secretary General of his party from 1993 to 1994. From 1997 to 2000, he was Vice President and from 2000 to 2005, President, of the
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party.
Member of the German Bundestag, 1987–2012 Hoyer first became a member of the
Bundestag in the
1987 elections, and served as chief whip from 1989 to 1993 and 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 under the leadership of successive chairmen
Wolfgang Gerhardt (2002-2006) and
Guido Westerwelle (2006-2009). Between 2005 and 2009, he also served as Deputy Chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, 1994–98 From 1994 to 1998, Hoyer was Minister of State at the
Foreign Office in the
Fifth Kohl Cabinet under Foreign Minister
Klaus Kinkel. In this capacity, he was the German representative in a high-level working group chaired by Spanish foreign minister
Carlos Westendorp and set up to prepare the negotiations on treaty change which led to the
Treaties of Amsterdam and subsequently,
Nice. In 1996, he was the German negotiator during an intergovernmental conference in Turin that was aimed at improvements in the
European Union's decision-making processes, including the establishment of a
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He also repeatedly reiterated German determination to enter a single currency – the
Euro – by 1999.
Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, 2009–12 From 28 October 2009 Hoyer was Minister of State at the
Foreign Office in the
Second Cabinet Merkel under Foreign Minister
Guido Westerwelle. During that time, he was Germany’s official in charge of German-French relations. He resigned in 2012. In August 2011, Hoyer issued a tough statement criticizing plans by
Denmark to build new control posts between the two countries, insisting that this unilateral decision to increase customs procedures on the border violated
European law.
President of the European Investment Bank, 2012–2023 On the basis of a nomination by the German government, Hoyer was appointed as President and Member of the Management Committee of the
European Investment Bank in 2012, succeeding
Philippe Maystadt. His competitors for the post were Maystadt himself and
Magdalena Álvarez, at the time one of the EIB's eight vice-presidents. In 2017, Hoyer was re-appointed for a second six-year term. In 2012, Hoyer called for a new
Marshall Plan – a reference to the US-financed programme that revived European economies after
World War II – to be launched to reanimate the Greek economy, involving both private and public investment. He said the EIB had the resources to invest in Greek infrastructure and support Greek banks to revive lending to businesses. Following his party’s strong performance in the
2017 German elections, Hoyer was cited as a possible candidate to succeed
Wolfgang Schäuble and take over as
Federal Minister of Finance. During his last annual results press conference in 2023, Mr. Hoyer unveiled the new EIB logo. On 24 June 2024 the European Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement that it had obtained the lifting of immunity for two former EIB employees. Various media outlets reported that Werner Hoyer was under investigation for corruption, abuse of influence, and the misappropriation of EU funds. Hoyer has described the allegations as absurd and unfounded. ==Other activities==