Nicola Beer is Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg. From 2019 to 2023 she was Vice President and Member of the European Parliament with a focus on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, the Industry and Research Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. She was Member of the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag from 2017 to 2019. Previously, Mrs. Beer was 1999 to 2009 and 2014 to 2017 Member of the Hessian state parliament, serving 2012 to 2014 as Hessian Minister for Education and 2009 to 2012 Hessian State Secretary for European Affairs. Her political career started as city councilor in her hometown Frankfurt am Main, where she also worked as a self-employed lawyer, except during the time as a member of the Hessian state government. Before studying law at the University of Frankfurt, she completed training as a bank clerk after graduating from high school with a bilingual German-French diploma. Beer was Secretary General of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 2013 to 2019, and its deputy federal chairwoman 2019 to 2023.