Josef Philip Winkler (born April 5, 1974 in Koblenz) is a German politician and member of the German Green Party "Bündnis 90/Die Grünen". He has been a member of the Deutscher Bundestag, the German Parliament, since 2002. He is deputy head of the Greens in the German parliament since 2009.
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Winkler's mother, Chinnamma, was born in the Indian state of Kerala. She is married to Martin Winkler, a German born in Saarland. Both live in Bad Ems.
Winkler did his Abitur in 1993 at the Goethe-Gymnasium in Bad Ems, his hometown. After this he started a schooling as a male nurse in orthopaedics and geriatric psychiatry which he ended in 1997 with a professional degree.
Winkler became a member of the German Green Party in 1990, at the age of 16 while still at school. One year later, he became spokesman of the party's local chapter for two years. From 1994 till 1999 Winkler was deputy and chairman of his faction in Bad Ems' city council. He then went on to be a member and chairman of this faction on the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis district council until 2003. From 2001 to 2008, Winkler has been a member of the state's association's executive board of his party in Rhineland-Palatinate, called "Parteirat".
Since 2002, Josef Winkler has been a member of the German Bundestag. As spokesman for church policy and the interreligious dialogue of his parliamentary faction from 2005–2009, he has been the leader of his faction's work group for religion policy. He is also the spokesman for Immigration policy and from 2002 till 2005 he was spokesman for democratic development. He is a member in the Interior Committee and has been member of the Committee on Petitions from 2002-2009. Since 2003, Winkler has been a member in the German delegation for the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Winkler is currently Chairman of the Indo-German parliamentary friendship Group of the German Bundestag (National Parliament) and member of the advisory board of the Hon. Prime Minister of India and the Hon. Federal Chancellor of Germany for Indo-German relations. Winkler is the third Member of the Green Party to be elected as member of the Central Committee of the German Catholics (since 2008). Winkler has been elected as chairman for the committee for fundamental political questions of the Central Committee of the German Catholics in 2009. He is member of the Council of Catholics in his home diocese (Limburg). He is member of the advisory board of the catholic academy of the archdioces of Berlin. He is member of the board of the foundation of the German catholic women's association.
Winkler got elected for a third term in parliament in the general elections at September 27 in 2009. He got promoted as Vice-Chairman of his parliamentary caucus (Alliance 90/ The Greens) following his reelection. He is shadowing the following federal ministries: Interior Affairs, Homeland Security, Justice, Petitions, Integration and Migration, Sports. In addition he is speaker for Church policy and interreligious dialogue and speaker for refugees affairs of his parliamentary group.
Josef Winkler has travelled widely abroad for the German parliament. As Member of the German delegation to the IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) since 2003 he took part in the following Assemblies : 108. Assembly in Santiago de Chile (2003), 109. Assembly in Geneva (2003), 110. Assembly in Mexiko City (2004), 111. Assembly in Geneva (2004), 112. Assembly in Manila (2005), 115. Assembly in Geneva (2006), 116. Assembly in Nusa Dua, Indonesia (2007), 118. Assembly in Cape Town (2008), 120. Assembly in Addis Abbeba, Ethiopia (2009), 121. Assembly in Geneva (2009), 122. Assembly in Bangkok (2010) and special assemblies in New York (2008) and in Ulan Bator, Mongolia (2003).