Gräßle was born in 1961 in the town of Großkuchen, located in the Heidenheim district of Baden-Württemberg,[3] Germany, where she attended elementary school until 1971. She attended high school at Hellenstein-Gymnasium Heidenheim until 1980, after which she completed a two-year internship with Augsburger Allgemeine, where she subsequently worked as an editor from 1982 to 1984.
After leaving editorial work in 1984, Gräßle enrolled at the University of Stuttgart, where she earned a master's degree in romance languages, history, and political science in 1989. She spent a year studying at the Institut d'études politiques in Paris, France, and in 1990, she took a job as the Director of Public Relations for Konrad-Adenauer-Haus (the German national headquarters for the Christian Democratic Union) in Bonn, Germany.
In 1994 Gräßle earned her PhD in political science from the Free University of Berlin. Her dissertation, the "Der europäische Fernseh-Kulturkanal ARTE : deutsch-französische Medienpolitik zwischen europäischem Anspruch und nationaler Wirklichkeit", examined the Franco-German television network, ARTE and explored the relationship between European standards and national realities.[4]
Since 1999, Gräßle has served as the Vice-Chair of the CDU Women's Union of Baden-Württemberg, a member of the Heidenheim District Council, and a member of the CDU Bureau in Baden-Württemberg. In 2001 she was appointed as the Deputy District Chair of the CDU in Northern Baden-Württemberg, and the District Chair of the CDU in Heidenheim.
Gräßle was elected to the European Parliament and began her first term on 20 August 2004. She was re-elected in 2009 and 2014.
Gräßle acted as the co-rapporteur, along with Crescenzio Rivellini, and lead parliamentary negotiator on legislation which created a new set of rules that govern the implementation of EU funds, known commonly as the financial regulation;[2][5] the European Parliament acted as co-legislator with the European Commission for the first time while drafting the new financial regulation that entered into force in January 2013.[6]
Member of the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China
Substitute Member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
During her time on the Committee on Budgetary Control, Gräßle led fact-finding missions to Hungary in 2011 and 2017 to visit multiple controversial EU-funded projects.[7]
Before the 2019 election, Gräßle was listed as number 5 on the local election list by the CDU Baden-Würtemberg. This fifth place made her the first woman on the list. The local CDU could only win four seats, and so all were taken by men. In an interview she spoke of an "old boys" network in the party with no interest in change. In the same interview, she also criticized the fact that there were no MEPs for the CDU of immigrant background.[8]
In December 2017, the Committee on Legal Affairs decided to waive Gräßle's immunity after she caused a car accident in which a person suffered a shoulder injury.[14]
Recognition
2013 – Taxpayers Prize of the Tax Payers' Association of Europe (jointly with Michel Barnier)
