Martine Hansen

Martine Hansen (born 10 December 1965 in Wiltz) is a Luxembourgish agricultural economist and politician who serves as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture and Minister for Consumer Protection in the Frieden-Bettel Government.

Hansen was born on 10 December 1965 in Wiltz and grew up as the daughter of a farmer in Tarchamps.

She completed her secondary school studies at the Lycée classique de Diekirch and studied Agricultural Sciences at the University of Hohenheim.

She specialized in Agricultural Economics and Social sciences.

From 1993 to 2006, Hansen worked as a high school at the Lycée technique agricole.

After a two-year correspondence course in school management at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Hansen got another master's degree.

In 2006, she became the first female headmaster of the Lycée technique agricole, a position she held until she became Minister of Higher Education in April 2013.

As headmaster, she was known for submitting whole classes of high-school students to drug tests without the knowledge of their parents.

She was a member of the Chamber of Deputies (2013–2023) and served as Minister for Higher Education and Research from April to December 2013 in the Juncker–Asselborn II Government.

Hansen is a Member of the Christian Social People's Party.

On 30 April 2013, Hansen was sworn in as Minister for Higher Education and Research in the Juncker–Asselborn II Government.

As both Marie-Josée Jacobs and François Biltgen resigned, the latter to become judge at the European Court of Justice, two new ministers were needed.

Hansen's time as minister was short, as the government resigned on 11 July 2013 and snap elections were called for October 2013.

She oversaw the reform of the State financial aid for higher education studies.

The previous model had been declared illegal by the European Court of Justice, as it discriminated against the children of residents of neighboring countries working in Luxembourg.

Her law was criticized as also being discriminating, as it would only grant financial aid for children of people that worked at least five years without interruption in Luxembourg.

One issue she could not finish during her term was the procurement of technical equipment for the University of Luxembourg at its new buildings in Esch-Belval.

In the 2013 Luxembourg general election, Hansen was elected to the Chamber of Deputies.

With 16 838 votes, she came in second place on the CSV list in the northern voting district and had the third most votes in that district.

As her party was not part of the Bettel I Government government, she became an opposition parliamentarian.

Hansen was member of the parliamentary committees on petitions, agriculture, viticulture, rural development and consumer protection; national education, children and youth; higher education, research, media, communications and space; environment; family and integration; health, equal opportunities and sports, covering only sports on the later.

These committees mostly covered her former ministerial portfolio as well as her expertise in agricultural sciences.

Hansen was characterized as voicing the issues and interests of farmers, often taking the same position as their representative organizations.

As this government reshuffle happened roughly a year before the anticipated election date (2014), the choice of Hansen was seen as electorally motivated, as she was "tailored" to the electoral district of her predecessor (in an electoral sense) Jacobs.

Hansen did not inherit Biltgen's whole portfolio, since it was split between many members of the government.

She was elected new district chairwoman of CSV Norden, the regional organization for the northern voting district on 23 January 2014, a position she held until 6 December 2018, when she gave up the position and her cousin Christophe Hansen replaced her.

At the CSV congress on 8 February 2014, Hansen was elected vice-president of her party, a position she held together with Françoise Hetto-Gaasch.

During the 2018 electoral campaign, Hansen was the lead candidate for her party in the northern voting district.

With 20 249 votes, Hansen was the candidate with the most votes in her district in the 2018 Luxembourg general election.

The CSV lost two seats in the election and wasn't part of any coalition negotiations, since the three government parties immediately started forming the Bettel II Government.

Shortly after the elections, national lead candidate Claude Wiseler stated that he would be available as leader of the CSV parliamentary group.

On 5 December 2018, Hansen was elected in this position and became de de facto leader of the opposition.

During her second term as parliamentarian, she mostly continued to work on the same issues.

As leader of the opposition, she became chairwoman of the parliamentary control committee of the State Intelligence Service, and member of the Conférence des Présidents and the Bureau, the two bodies responsible for the organization of Parliament.

She was vice-chairwoman of the committees on agriculture, viticulture and rural development; and national education, children, youth, higher education and research.

Hansen was a member of committees on rules; finance and budget; environment, climate, energy and spatial planning; health and sports (only covering sports).

As leader of the CSV parliamentary group, Hansen was a key figure during the conflict with the CSV president Frank Engel in 2021, who resigned after member of the parliamentary group denounced him due to suspicion of misappropriation of party assets and sham employment.

This was also seen as a political victory from the parliamentary group, with Hansen as its leader, over Engel.

This resulted in restructuring of the party leadership, which lead to the parliamentary group leadership split between Hansen and Gilles Roth, staring on 8 April 2021.

She held this position until 26 January 2019.