title: Thorsten Frei
text: # Thorsten Frei
  
  Thorsten Frei (born 8 August 1973) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2013.
  
  ## Political career
  
  Frei first became a member of the Bundestag in the 2013 German federal election. From 2013 until 2017, he was a member of the Committee on European Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on Civilian Crisis Prevention.
  
  Since 2018, Frei has been serving as deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of successive chairs Ralph Brinkhaus (2021–2022) and Friedrich Merz (2022–present). In this capacity, he coordinates the group's legislative activities on consumer protection, domestic affairs, sports, and minorities. He has also been serving on the Committee on the Election of Judges (Wahlausschuss), which is in charge of appointing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
  
  In addition to his committee assignments, Frei chairs the German-Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Group.
  
  ## Other activities
  
  * Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Member of the Supervisory Board (2018-2019)
  * Federal Agency for Civic Education (BPB), Member of the Board of Trustees
  