Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election.Melissa Eddy: Merkel's Former Finance Minister to Run Against Her. nytimes.com. Retrieved 22 September 2012 Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2002 to 2005, a member of the Bundestag from 2009 to 2016, and as Federal Minister of Finance in the first Cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2009.
A graduate of the University of Kiel, Steinbrück began his political career in the office of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and became chief of staff to Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau, in 1986. Steinbrück served as a state minister in both Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia and succeeded Wolfgang Clement as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2002. Governing in an SPD-Green coalition,see :de:Kabinett Steinbrück Steinbrück's tenure was noted for its attempt to reduce tax breaks and coal subsidies.Judy Dempsey (13 October 2005), New German Finance Minister Likely to Help Merkel's Agenda New York Times. In the 2005 state election, Steinbrück's SPD lost to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) opposition led by Jürgen Rüttgers, thus marking the end of Steinbrück's tenure as Minister-President.
After the 2005 federal election, which resulted in a Grand Coalition government under the leadership of new Chancellor Angela Merkel of the CDU, Steinbrück was appointed Minister of Finance. In this position, Steinbrück was charged with reducing Germany's budget deficit, curbing public debt, and introducing changes in the taxation system. In the 2009 federal election, SPD chancellor-candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier included Steinbrück as a member of his shadow cabinet.
In 2012, the National Assembly of the SPD elected Steinbrück as the chancellor-candidate of the SPD for the 2013 federal election. After he was nominated, controversy surrounding Steinbrück history of giving paid speeches to private banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank,Steinbrück admits to over a million euros in lecture fees Deutsche Welle, 30 October 2012. as well as the potential conflict of interest surrounding his seat on the board of steel conglomerate ThyssenKrupp,Stephen Brown (5 October 2012), Merkel's challenger rebuffs criticism of high earnings Reuters. prompted criticism from both centre-right members of Angela Merkel's coalition as well as members of SPD's left-wing. Steinbrück's gaffe-prone campaign failed to gain traction,Merkel romps to victory but faces tough coalition choices Reuters. and the SPD was defeated by Merkel's CDU in the federal election which took place on 22 September 2013.
Early life and education Steinbrück was born in Hamburg, on 10 January 1947, to Ilse (née Schaper; 1919–2011) and Ernst Steinbrück (1914–1998), an architect born in Danzig. After having been trained as an officer of the reserve of the Bundeswehr, Steinbrück studied economics at the University of Kiel. He graduated in 1974.
Career
Early career, 1974–2002 After graduation Steinbrück worked for several German ministries and, from 1978 to 1981, in the office of German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. He held positions in the Permanent Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in East Berlin from 1981 to 1985. In the 1980s, Steinbrück was the chief of staff to the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau.
In 1993, he became the State Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. He then returned to North Rhine-Westphalia, where he became the Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in 1998 and Finance Minister in 2000.
Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, 2002–2005 From 2002 to 2005 Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister President (Ministerpräsident or governor) of North Rhine-Westphalia. He headed a coalition government between the SPD and the Green Party.
In December 2002, Steinbrück accompanied Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on a visit to China for meetings with President of China Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji.Andreas Lorenz (29 December 2002), Doktor Schröder im Schwebezustand Spiegel Online.
In 2003, Steinbrück and Roland Koch, the Christian Democrat premier of Hesse, together drew up a plan to reduce tax breaks and subsidies, including those on coal. The subsidies were a particularly sensitive issue in North Rhine-Westphalia, where most of the coal mines were located then. Nevertheless, Steinbrück and Koch agreed that all subsidies were to be reduced by 12 percent over several years. Steinbrück was a supporter of the so-called "Agenda 2010".Wolfgang Dick (27 September 2013), http://www.dw.de/merkel-challenger-bids-farewell-to-politics/a-17102302 Merkel challenger bids farewell to politics] Deutsche Welle.
In the state election on 22 May 2005, Steinbrück's SPD lost to the Christian democratic (CDU) opposition. This loss also had consequences for federal politics: then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who already was enfeebled by weak opinion polls and criticism within his own party, announced plans to call an early federal election for the Bundestag. This resulted in the 2005 federal election four months later, after which Angela Merkel became Chancellor for the first time.
Federal Minister of Finance, 2005–2009
After the 2005 federal election, SPD and CDU formed a Grand Coalition under the leadership of new Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). Peer Steinbrück became finance minister of Germany in November 2005. He was charged with reducing Germany's budget deficit, curbing public debt and introducing changes in the taxation system. Following his initiative, Germany introduced a flat rate withholding tax of 25 percent on private income from capital and capital gains, with the aim of preventing tax evasion.Michael Nienaber (30 April 2016), Germany's Schaeuble in favor of lower income tax: newspaper Reuters. He oversaw and orchestrated the regulatory and fiscal efforts to counter the largest financial and economic crisis in post-War history.
From 2005, Steinbrück also served as deputy chairman of the SPD. Ahead of the 2009 elections, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier included Steinbrück in his shadow cabinet of 10 women and eight men for the Social Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbent Angela Merkel as chancellor.Bertrand Benoit (30 July 2009), Lagging SPD starts campaign Financial Times.
In a joint article in the Financial Times on 14 December 2010, Steinbrück and Steinmeier proposed to solve the European debt crisis with "a combination of a haircut for debt holders, debt guarantees for stable countries and the limited introduction of European-wide bonds in the medium term, accompanied by more aligned fiscal policies."Peer Steinbrück and Frank-Walter Steinmeier (14 December 2010), Germany must lead fightback Financial Times. In February 2011, Steinmeier proposed Steinbrück as a candidate to lead the European Central Bank.Erik Kirschbaum (13 February 2011), Steinbrueck says not interested in ECB's top job Reuters.
Candidate for Federal Chancellor, 2012–2013 On 9 December 2012 an extraordinary National Assembly of the SPD elected Steinbrück, with 93.45 percent of the votes, as candidate for Federal Chancellor, to run in the 2013 federal elections against Angela Merkel. Sigmar Gabriel, the party's chairman at the time, who had also been considered a possible candidate, said the leadership had agreed to nominate Steinbrück after Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the party's parliamentary leader, withdrew from the contest.Melissa Eddy (28 September 2012), Merkel’s Ex-Finance Minister to Oppose Her New York Times.
During his election campaign, Steinbrück promised to introduce rent controls, to raise taxes and use those funds for education and infrastructure.Erik Kirschbaum (8 August 2013), Merkel challenger vows to rein in banks, hike taxes on wealthy Reuters. He also accused Merkel of showing a lack of passion for Europe in the euro area crisis because she was brought up in communist East Germany.Noah Barkin (20 March 2014), Germany's Russian rethink: How Merkel lost faith in Putin Reuters. In the run-up to the elections, he criticized Merkel's support for hardline austerity measures in indebted eurozone countriesProfile: Peer Steinbruck Al Jazeera, 16 September 2013. and reiterated his support for the euro, saying that its demise would "throw back European unification by 20 to 30 years" and result in currency appreciation that would "destroy any business."Tony Czuczka, Rainer Buergin and Patrick Donahue (22 September 2013), Merkel Asks for Third Term as Steinbrueck Seeks Election Upset Bloomberg News. He also travelled to Greece for meetings with President Karolos Papoulias, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and PASOK chairman Evangelos Venizelos.
On foreign policy issues, Steinbrück criticized Merkel for not joining Germany's allies in their military efforts against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Also, he promised he would radically curtail German arms exports to countries such as Saudi Arabia.Charles Hawley (5 June 2013), Merkel Challenger Attacks Her Austerity Policy Spiegel Online.
In three stages from mid-May 2013, Steinbrück announced the twelve members of his shadow cabinet, including Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, Gesche Joost, Yasemin Karakaşoğlu, Christiane Krajewski, Karl Lauterbach, Matthias Machnig, Thomas Oppermann, Florian Pronold, Oliver Scheytt, Klaus Wiesehügel, Manuela Schwesig and Brigitte Zypries. He signalled his support for Jürgen Trittin, at the time co-chairman of the Green Party’s parliamentary group, to become minister of finance in the case of his win.Peer Steinbrück’s "competence team": the signal is political change, pure and simple! DB Research, German Policy Watch, 11 June 2013.
Although Steinbrück soon won the endorsement of former Chancellors Gerhard Schröder and Helmut Schmidt, his gaffe-prone campaign never gained traction against the popular Merkel.Stephen Brown and Noah Barkin (22 September 2013), Merkel romps to victory but faces tough coalition choices Reuters. His previously established reputation as a crisis manager who had played a frontline role during the 2008 financial crisis was overshadowed by faux pas throughout the campaign.Joseph de Weck (30 January 2013), Steinbrueck Hits Reset in German Election Campaign After Gaffes Bloomberg News. He clashed with Sigmar Gabriel, the party leader, whom Steinbrück said had not been supportive of his campaign.
On 22 September, Steinbrück's Social Democrats won 25.7 percent, while Merkel's CDU and its Bavarian sister party CSU together won 41.5 percent of the vote.Merkel's conservatives win German vote Al Jazeera, 23 September 2013. Following the elections, Steinbrück was part of the SPD delegation to hold exploratory talks with the CDU/CSU on forming a coalition government.Patrick Donahue and Arne Delfs (30 September 2013), Germany Sets Coalition Talks Date as Weeks of Bartering Loom Bloomberg News.
Member of the Bundestag, 2013–2016 As member of parliament, Steinbrück served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and as chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group from 2013 until 2016.
In March 2015, Steinbrück joined the Agency for Modernization of Ukraine, an initiative led by Dmitry Firtash to develop a comprehensive plan of political and economic reforms in the country.The Agency for Modernisation of Ukraine presented at the ‘Ukraine Tomorrow’ International Forum British Ukrainian Society, press release of 3 March 2015.