Christian Schmidt (politician)

Christian Schmidt (born 26 August 1957) is a German politician of the centre-right Christian Social Union (CSU).

Christian Schmidt
Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure
Acting
In office
24 October 2017 – 14 March 2018
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byAlexander Dobrindt
Succeeded byAndreas Scheuer
Minister of Food and Agriculture
In office
17 February 2014 – 14 March 2018
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byHans-Peter Friedrich
Succeeded byJulia Klöckner
Parliamentary Secretary of State for Economic Cooperation and Development
In office
17 December 2013 – 17 February 2014
ChancellorAngela Merkel
MinisterGerd Müller
Preceded byGundrun Kopp
Succeeded byThomas Silberhorn
Parliamentary Secretary of State for Defence
In office
23 November 2005 – 17 December 2013
ChancellorAngela Merkel
MinisterFranz Josef Jung
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
Thomas de Maizière
Preceded byWalter Kolbow
Succeeded byRalf Brauksiepe
Member of the Bundestag
for Fürth
Assumed office
2 December 1990
Preceded byWerner Dollinger
Personal details
Born (1957-08-26) August 26, 1957
Obernzenn
NationalityGerman
Political partyChristian Social Union (CSU)
Alma materUniversity of Erlangen
ProfessionLawyer
Websitewww.christian-schmidt.de

Schmidt served as Minister of Food and Agriculture from 2014 until 2018. He was Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Defence from 2005 to 2013 and Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development from December 2013 until February 2014.[1]

He is the MP for Fürth.

Early life and education

Schmidt attended the Georg-Willhem-Steller-Gymnasium in Bad Windsheim where he completed his Abitur in 1976. He then undertook mandatory military service in the mountain division of the West German Army. He began legal studies in 1977 in Erlangen and Lausanne. Schmidt finished his legal studies with the successful completion of the required state examinations in 1982 and 1985. He was admitted to the bar in 1985 and practiced law until the assumption of his duties as Parliamentary State Secretary in November 2005.

Political career

As a student Schmidt joined the Junge Union (JU), the CSU youth group, in 1973. In 1976 he registered as a member of the CSU. From 1980-1982 he was chairman of the JU-District Association in Neustadt-an-der-Aisch. In 1982 he was named Chair of the JU-Regional Association for Central Franconia, a position that he held until 1991. From 1984 to 1990 Christian Schmidt was a town councillor in his hometown of Obernzenn and member of the District Council for Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim.

From 1989 to 1993 Schmidt was also a member of the CSU State Committee, a post that he took up again in 1999. Since 1999, in addition to his duties on the CSU State Committee, Schmidt has been Chairman of the CSU-District Association in Fuerth.

Schmidt is the Chair of the CSU Regional Working Group on Foreign, Security and European Policy. Since May 2010 he has also served as Chair of the Regional Evangelical Working Group of the CSU. In May 2011 he was named Chair of the Federal Evangelical Working Group of the CSU/CDU.

Member of Parliament, 1990–present

Schmidt was elected to the German Parliament, the Bundestag, in the 1990 elections. From 1991 to 2002 he was Chair of the national level CSU Working Group for Foreign, Defence and European policy. He then went on to serve as Chair of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Defence Working Group. In this capacity he also served as the CDU/CSU spokesman for defence policy.

Schmidt served as Chair of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group from 1994 until 1998 and as Chair for the German-British Parliamentary Friendship Group from 1998 until 2005. He has also been a member of the German-Baltic, German-Croatian, and German-Czech Parliamentary Friendship Groups. He was his parliamentary group's rapporteur on the German-Polish “Good Neighbour” Treaty in 1991, as well as the 1992 German-Czechoslovakia Treaty. In 1997 the Federal Minister of Defence selected Schmidt to serve on the Advisory Committee of the German-Czech Discussion Forum.

He was rapporteur for the discussions pertaining to the Parliamentary Participation Act of 2005 dealing with the deployment of the German Bundeswehr within the Federal Republic.

Schmidt entered the German Parliament as a directly elected candidate, representing Fürth. In the 2009 elections he won 43.3% of the First Votes. In December 2012 he was nominated for the seventh time as the CSU candidate for the upcoming Federal Parliamentary Elections in 2013. The CSU Assembly of Delegates awarded him 98.7% of the vote (155 of 157 votes).[2]

Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence, 2005–2013
Schmidt in 2009

Schmidt was named Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence by Chancellor Angela Merkel on 23 November 2005. In this capacity he served as parliamentary and political representative for three Ministers of the Defence; Franz Josef Jung, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Thomas de Maizière.

During his time in office Schmidt advanced the establishment of a foundation to care for service members negatively impacted by the side effects of radar signals encountered during their service. His time in office has seen several landmark events including the investigation into the wartime activities of World War II German flying ace Werner Mölders (2007), the reorientation of the Federal Republic's armed forces (since 2010) and the resignation of Defence Minister zu Guttenberg in the wake of a plagiarism scandal (2011). Schmidt had defended zu Guttenberg against the accusations of plagiary. Schmidt also played an instrumental role in the establishment and financing of the “Hardship Fund” (Härtefall-Stiftung). This fund, maintained by the Soldiers’ Relief Association e.V., was founded in 2012 with the express remit of supporting soldiers seriously injured in the line of duty. The fund provides support above and beyond the standard duty of care laws in the Federal Republic, thereby serving as additional assistance for those veterans most in need.

Following the resignation of zu Guttenberg in 2011 Schmidt remained in office and was re-confirmed to the post by the new Minister for Defense, Thomas de Maiziere. In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections, he was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on foreign affairs, defense policy and development cooperation, led by de Maizière and Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Since 2011 Schmidt has been serving as deputy chairman of the CSU, under the leadership of successive chairmen Horst Seehofer (2011-2018) and Markus Söder (since 2018). In this capacity, he is his party's spokesman on foreign and security policy, as well as on European politics. He is also responsible for the relationship of the CSU with other parties that are members of the European People's Party caucus (Christian Democrats) at the European Union level. He manages CSU international outreach to Israel, Croatia, Austria, the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, 2014–2018

From 2014 until 2018, Schmidt served as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the third cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In response to a 2016 collapse in milk prices, Schmidt rolled out an emergency package of at least €100 million for the country's dairy farmers, including loans and tax relief.[3] Also during his time in office, Germany culled 776,000 farm chickens, turkeys, ducks and other types of poultry between November 2016 and January 2017 to combat bird flu.[4]

In November 2017, Schmidt angered the center-left SPD by breaking protocol to back a European Union proposal to extend the use of glyphosate for another five years, a measure opposed by Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks of the SPD, who had secured a guarantee of a non-positive vote just minutes before;[5] it is usual practice that Germany abstains in EU votes if ministers from different governing parties disagree on a policy. Following the incident, Chancellor Merkel publicly scolded Schmidt, arguing that he should not have voted in favor against the wish of his colleague and in breach of government instructions. Schmidt's connections to the agricultural lobby have been part of criticism ever since.[6] [7]

Later career

Since leaving his government post, Schmidt has been serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Sub-Committee on the United Nations.

In 2019, Schmidt was appointed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community to serve on the committee that oversaw the preparations for the 30th anniversary of German reunification.[8]

Political positions

In August 2012, Schmidt was one of 124 members of the Bundestag to sign a letter that was sent to the Russian ambassador to Germany, Vladimir Grinin, expressing concern over the trial against the three members of Pussy Riot. “Being held in detention for months and the threat of lengthy punishment are draconian and disproportionate,” the lawmakers said in the letter. “In a secular and pluralist state, peaceful artistic acts -- even if they can be seen as provocative -- must not lead to the accusation of serious criminal acts that lead to lengthy prison terms.”[9][10]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations
  • Leo Baeck Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees[11]
  • Society for Defense and Security Policy (GfW), Member of the Board of Trustees
  • German Atlantic Society, President (since 2006)
  • Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, Co-Chairman (since 2013)
  • German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Chairman of the Czech Republic Discussion Group[12]
  • Coordination Council for German-Czech Dialogue, Member of the Board
  • Foundation for the Examination of the Dictatorship in East Germany, Member of the Board of Trustees
  • American Jewish Committee in Berlin, Member of the Advisory Board
  • Hanns Seidel Foundation, Deputy Chairman of the Board[13]
  • Help for Self-Help e.V., Honorary Member of the Board
  • Comrades Association of Alpine Troops in Munich, Member
  • German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Trustees (2009–2013)
  • Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2009–2013)
  • Car and Travel Club Germany (ARCD), Member of the Presidium (1993–2007)

Recognition

References
  1. "Christian Schmidt, CDU/CSU". www.bundestag.de. 27 May 2013. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  2. "Schmidt und Söder punkten in Langenzenn". www.nordbayern.de. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  3. James Shotter (May 30, 2016), Germany promises €100m emergency package for dairy farmers Financial Times.
  4. Hans-Edzard Busemann (February 13, 2017), Germany has culled 776,000 poultry since bird flu outbreak Reuters.
  5. "Weedkiller vote poisons European politics". POLITICO. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  6. GEO (https://www.geo.de/natur/nachhaltigkeit/21266-rtkl-landwirtschaft-studie-deckt-auf-so-funktioniert-die-agrarlobby).
  7. Joseph Nasr (November 28, 2017), Merkel scolds ally to shield coalition talks from weedkiller row Reuters.
  8. 30 Jahre Friedliche Revolution und Deutsche Einheit Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, press release of April 3, 2019.
  9. Henry Meyer (August 8, 2012), Madonna Urges Freedom for Anti-Putin Punk Girls at Concert Bloomberg News.
  10. Appell aus dem Bundestag: Deutsche Abgeordnete fordern Milde für Pussy Riot Spiegel Online, August 7, 2012.
  11. Board of Trustees Leo Baeck Foundation.
  12. Study Groups, Discussion Groups and Task Forces Archived 2016-07-01 at the Wayback Machine German Council on Foreign Relations.
  13. Board and Members, 2019 Hanns Seidel Foundation.
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