Political groups

2009-2019: Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
2019-2020: Renew Europe Group

National parties

2009-2020: Liberal Democrats

Biography

Catherine Bearder was born in Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Before becoming an MEP, she worked as a developer in a number of major national charities. She has been an active Liberal Democrat for years: she was previously former Liberal Democratic Advisor in Cherwell and Oxford County Council (Oxfordshire) and was twice a European and national candidate of the party, standing for election in Banbury in 1997 and in Henley in 2001. 

Bearder was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the 2009 elections in the South East England constituency. Replacing MEP Emma Nicholson, she was placed behind MEP Sharon Bowles on the party list for the 2009 European elections. Bearder was elected to European Parliament on 4 June 2009 and in 2014 she was re-elected and became the only British Liberal Democrats MEP in the Parliament. During the 7th and 8th legislatures, she was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, joining Renew Europe during the 9th parliamentary term. 

During her time in Parliament, Bearder was a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. She focused on environmental issues, in particular wildlife conservation and biodiversity, and founded the multi-stakeholder group 'MEPs for Wildlife' which called for an EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. She was appointed as one of the main MEPs working on the revision of the national emissions ceiling directive, which was to set national targets for reducing emissions of harmful pollutants. This was part of the EU air quality package, which, according to the European Commission, could prevent around 38,000 premature deaths per year in the EU by 2030. She was also a member of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

Seminar for journalists: Women refugees and asylum seekers in the EU - The European Parliament: striving for women's rights and gender equality. L-R: Cheryl D. Miller, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Teresa Jimenez-Becerril Barrio, Catherine Bearder © European Union 2016 - European Parliament

A long-standing activist on trafficking in human beings, she was appointed to draft a European Parliament report on the implementation of the EU Directive on trafficking in persons (Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011).

After the 2014 European elections, she was elected Quaestor of the European Parliament and sat from 2014 to 2019. In addition to her committee assignments, Catherine Bearder was a member of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Small and Medium Entreprises.

She was re-elected on 23 May 2019 and led the Liberal Democrat group. She was a member of the Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs, substitute member of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, and substitute member of the Committee on Culture and Education. She was also an active member of the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, speaking mainly on environmental and social issues.

For more information on her time as an MEP, click here. 

Selected plenary speeches

In 2016, the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety appointed Catherine Bearder rapporteur for the own-initiative report on the EU action plan against wildlife trafficking. In this capacity, she addressed the plenary session on 23 November 2016:

Part 1:

Part 2:

In the plenary debate on combatting racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance (Council and Commission statements) on 1 December 2016, Catherine Bearder, speaking on behalf of the ALDE Group, addressed the effects of the referendum campaign in the United Kingdom:

On 25 October 2017, Catherine Bearder addressed the plenary session on combating sexual harassment and abuse in the EU, having signed a resolution on the same topic:

What's in the archives?

The fonds of Catherine Bearder range mostly from 2015 to 2019, although there are some other documents dated prior to that period, which were collected or received by Bearder as documentation or information (from 1956, 2007, 2010 and 2013-2014). A part of the documents are often the same: draft agendas, minutes, notes or letters, all pertaining to her participation as a member of the College of Quaestors or of the Bureau and her mandate during the 7th parliamentary term (2009-2014).

Another part of the documents in this fonds comes from her activity in the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, and the Committee on International Trade between 2012 and 2015.

The main subjects addressed are the inclusion of persons with disabilities in developing countries, the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, the EU Action Plan against wildlife trafficking, the Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims from a gender perspective, and the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species.

Participation in the governing bodies

In this section we can find the archives linked to her participation in the governing bodies as a member of the College of Quaestors and of the Bureau. Bearder held these positions for five years (2014-2019). As Quaestor, she was responsible for managing numerous administrative and financial tasks. She participated in the Artistic Committee and agreed to the sponsorship of the exhibitions. As a member of the Bureau, she was a member of many working groups. She collaborated with the Working Group on ICT Innovation Strategy and the Working Group on Information and Communication Policy. Finally, she also had an active role as a member of the High-Level Group on Gender Equality and Diversity. She promoted training and raising awareness on equality between men and women among staff in the European Parliament and in the political groups.

Bearder also played an important role as a member of the Association of Former Members of the European Parliament, which was established to connect former Members and to enable them to make use of their experience and expertise.