Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker  Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker ( Winkelmeier, born 15 September 1962) 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 North Rhine-Westphalia since 2005. In 2019, she was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy under Minister Peter Altmaier in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Winkelmeier-Becker first became a member of the Bundestag in the 2005 German federal election. In parliament, she has served on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection (2005-2019); the Committee on Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (2005-2013); and the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Sustainable Development (2005-2009). In the negotiations to form a "Grand Coalition" of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Winkelmeier-Becker was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on families, women and equality, led by Annette Widmann-Mauz and Manuela Schwesig. In similar negotiations following the 2017 federal elections, she was part of the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Thomas de Maizière, Stephan Mayer and Heiko Maas. In 2018, Winkelmeier-Becker joined the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), the Federal Labour Court (BAG), and the Federal Social Court (BSG). Since 2019, Winkelmeier-Becker has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Energy. In this capacity, she also serves as the ministry's Special Coordinator for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). In June 2017, Winkelmeier-Becker abstained from a parliamentary vote on Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.