Norbert Barthle (born 1 February 1952) is a German

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

of the Christian Democratic (CDU) who served as a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

from 1998 until 2021, representing

Backnang – Schwäbisch Gmünd Backnang – Schwäbisch Gmünd is an electoral constituency ( German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituen ...

Professional career

Between 1992 and 1998, Barthle worked as press spokesperson at the State Ministry for Education, Youth and Sports of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, under the leadership of successive ministers Marianne Schultz-Hector and

Annette Schavan Annette Schavan (; born 10 June 1955) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She was the Federal Minister of Education and Research in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2013, when she resigned foll ...

Political career

Barthle first became a member of the German

in the 1998 national elections. He served on the Budget Committee and its Sub-Committee on the European Union from 2002 until 2015. In addition, he was a member of the Audit Committee from 2002 until 2005. Between 2013 and 2015, he was a member of the so-called ''Confidential Committee'' (''Vertrauensgremium'') of the Budget Committee, which provides budgetary supervision for Germany's three intelligence services, BND, BfV and MAD. Within his

CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...

parliamentary group, Barthle served as spokesperson on budgetary affairs between 2009 and 2015. He is also the deputy chairman of the Bundestag group of CDU parliamentarians from

, one of the largest delegations within the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In the negotiations to form a '' Grand Coalition'' of the Christian Democrats ( CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

(SPD) following the 2013 federal elections, Barthle was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on financial policies and the national budget, led by

Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...

and Olaf Scholz. In July 2014, Barthle was part of Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

’s delegation on a state visit to China. From late 2015 until 2018, Barthle served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the

Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (german: Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr, ), abbreviated BMDV, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is located in Berlin, while the majority ...

(BMVI) under minister

Alexander Dobrindt Alexander Dobrindt (born 7 June 1970) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Between 2013 and 2017, he served as Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in the government of Chancellor Angela Mer ...

, in the third cabinet of Chancellor

. He succeeded Katherina Reiche. As Parliamentary Secretary, he oversaw the ministry's budget and its activities on aviation policy. With the formation of the fourth '' Grand Coalition'' under Merkel in 2018, it was announced that Barthle would move to the position of Parliamentary State Secretary at the

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (german: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, ), abbreviated BMZ, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is ...

under Minister Gerd Müller. In this capacity, he also serves as Chancellor Angela Merkel's Personal Envoy to the German-Greek Assembly (DGV). In June 2020, Barthle announced that he would not stand in the 2021 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Other activities

International organizations

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...

(ADB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2018–2021) * Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2018–2021) * Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, Co-chair (2018-2019)

Corporate boards

German Investment Corporation Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) is a Development Finance Institution (DFI) and a subsidiary of KfW Group. It was founded in Cologne in September 1962 as a federally owned company by the former Federal President Walter ...

(DEG), Ex-Officio Chairman of the supervisory board (2018–2021) * Kreissparkasse Ostalb, Member of the supervisory board (since 2009) *

Deutsche Flugsicherung Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) is the company in charge of air traffic control for Germany. It is a company organized under private law and 100% owned by the Federal Republic of Germany. Since January 1993, DFS has been controlling air traffic in Ge ...

(DFS), Ex-Officio Chairman of the advisory board (2015-2018) *

KfW The KfW, which together with its subsidiaries DEG, KfW IPEX-Bank and FuB forms the KfW Bankengruppe ("banking group"), is a German state-owned investment and development bank, based in Frankfurt. As of 2014, it is the world's largest national d ...

, Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (2011-2015)

Non-profit organizations

* '' Deutsche Welle'', Member of the Broadcasting Council (2018–2021) * Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany (AIREG), Member of the Advisory Board * International Federation of Snowsport Instructors (IFSI), President *

SG Sonnenhof Großaspach SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (german: Sportgemeinschaft Sonnenhof Großaspach e.V.), commonly known as Sonnenhof Großaspach, is a German professional football club based in Aspach, Baden-Württemberg. The club play in the Regionalliga Südwest, whi ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board * Kuratorium Sport & Natur, Deputy Chairman of the Board (until 2015) * Freiburger Kreis, Member of the advisory board (1999-2003)

Political positions

During his time on the Budget Committee, Barthle was a proponent of the Merkel government’s policy to refrain from any net new borrowing and instead focus all efforts on achieving a structurally balanced

national budget A government budget is a document prepared by the government and/or other political entity presenting its anticipated tax revenues (Inheritance tax, income tax, corporation tax, import taxes) and proposed spending/expenditure (Healthcare, Educat ...

. Ahead of the 2021 national elections, Barthle endorsed

Markus Söder Markus Thomas Theodor Söder (born 5 January 1967) is a German politician serving as Minister-President of Bavaria since 2018 and Leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) since 2019. Background, education and military service Söd ...

as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed Chancellor

Personal life

Barthle is married and has two sons. The family lives in

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district and ...

’s Lindach district.Richard Färber (September 19, 2013
Norbert Barthle kämpft gegen Rot-Rot-Grün und für eine seriöse Haushaltspolitik
''

Südwest Presse ''Südwest Presse'' is a German daily newspaper based in Ulm, which is distributed in Ulm, Neu-Ulm, Alb-Donau-Kreis and Landkreis Neu-Ulm. It is also the name of a regional cooperative venture (called a ''Zeitungsverbund'' – newspaper composite ...

''.

References

External links