Peer Steinbrück
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Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2002 to 2005, a member of the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
from 2009 to 2016, and as Federal Minister of Finance in the first Cabinet of
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2009. A graduate of the
University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...
, 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 Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...
and
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
and succeeded Wolfgang Clement as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2002. Governing in an SPD-
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
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
''
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''.
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 JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...
and
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...
,Steinbrück admits to over a million euros in lecture fees
''
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
'', 30 October 2012.
as well as the potential conflict of interest surrounding his seat on the board of steel conglomerate
Thyssenkrupp ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It resulted from the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg and E ...
,Stephen Brown (5 October 2012)
Merkel's challenger rebuffs criticism of high earnings
''
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''.
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, 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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, 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 An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
of the reserve of the
Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...
, Steinbrück studied
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...
in East Berlin from 1981 to 1985. In the 1980s, Steinbrück was the chief of staff to the Minister President of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, Johannes Rau. In 1993, he became the State Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in the state of
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...
. 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 North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
. He headed a coalition government between the SPD and the Green Party. In December 2002, Steinbrück accompanied
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...
on a visit to China for meetings with
President of the People's Republic of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...
Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...
and
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
Zhu Rongji. In 2003, Steinbrück and Roland Koch, the Christian Democrat premier of Hesse, together drew up a plan to reduce tax breaks and
subsidies A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...
, 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". 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 Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...
, 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 The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
. 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 A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...
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 Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit, the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budg ...
, 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. 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. In a joint article in the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' on 14 December 2010, Steinbrück and Steinmeier proposed to solve the
European debt crisis The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The e ...
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." In February 2011, Steinmeier proposed Steinbrück as a candidate to lead the
European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...
.


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
''
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''.
During his election campaign, Steinbrück promised to introduce rent controls, to raise taxes and use those funds for education and infrastructure. He also accused Merkel of showing a lack of passion for Europe in the
euro area crisis The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The ...
because she was brought up in communist East Germany. In the run-up to the elections, he criticized Merkel's support for hardline austerity measures in indebted eurozone countriesProfile: Peer Steinbruck
''
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'', 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." He also travelled to Greece for meetings with
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Karolos Papoulias,
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Antonis Samaras Antonis Samaras (, ; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. A member of the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samaras started his na ...
,
Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
Yannis Stournaras and
PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Greece, political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was Two-party system, one of the two major ...
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 Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
. Also, he promised he would radically curtail German arms exports to countries such as
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. 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 Manuela Schwesig (; ' Frenzel, born 23 May 1974) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party serving as List of Ministers-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpomm ...
and Brigitte Zypries. He signalled his support for Jürgen Trittin, at the time co-chairman of the Green Party’s
parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...
, to become minister of finance in the case of his win. Although Steinbrück soon won the endorsement of former Chancellors
Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...
and Helmut Schmidt, his gaffe-prone campaign never gained traction against the popular Merkel. His previously established reputation as a crisis manager who had played a frontline role during the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
was overshadowed by faux pas throughout the campaign.Joseph de Weck (30 January 2013)
Steinbrueck Hits Reset in German Election Campaign After Gaffes
''
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''.
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. Following the elections, Steinbrück was part of the SPD delegation to hold exploratory talks with the CDU/CSU on forming a coalition government.


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. In September 2015, Steinbrück announced that he would not stand in the 2017 federal elections. He vacated his
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
seat in the end of September 2016. In 2018, he wrote a book titled ''Das Elend der Sozial-demokratie. Anmerkungen eines Genossen.'', which explored the reasons why the SPD always lost elections from an insider's perspective.


Political positions


Economic policy

Steinbrück has been a prominent speaker for the SPD, especially on economic matters. During a 2007 visit to Washington for meetings with the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the
Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...
, after the collapse of Amaranth Advisors, Steinbrück lobbied for the development of an internationally accepted "code of conduct" for the hedge fund industry, arguing that a "sizable number" of hedge funds "are not behaving properly." Steinbrück predicted in 2008, in the wake of
Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...
’s bankruptcy, that the United States’ days as a financial superpower were numbered. In December 2008 interview with ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'', he controversially attacked the British
Keynesian Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...
approach to economic policy. He raised scepticism about the effectiveness of large fiscal stimulus packages and criticized the resulting increase in public debt. His comments led Steinbrück into a highly public press battle with
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American New Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He ...
, the Nobel laureate economist and ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' columnist. An adherent to Keynes' theory that government spending creates growth, Krugman wrote in December 2008—in a direct attack on Steinbrück—that the primary " multiplier effect" that government spending programs were having was that of "multiplying the impact of the current German government's boneheadedness." During his time as German Finance Minister, Steinbrück repeatedly accused the United Kingdom of pandering to the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
by hindering efforts to reform global financial markets. In 2009, Steinbrück opposed any plans by the G-20 major economies to limit the size of banks to avoid individual institutions wielding too much influence in future and posing a risk. At the 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit, he supported a Dutch proposal to limit banking executives' bonuses to the level of their fixed annual salary. Also, he called for a global tax to be imposed on financial transactions in a bid to end what he derided as "binge-drinking" on markets. In a 2010 interview on German television, it appeared that Steinbrück, who had adopted a very critical stance of the
shadow banking system The shadow banking system is a term for the collection of non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs) that legally provide services similar to traditional commercial banks but outside normal banking regulations. S&P Global estimates that, at end-2 ...
, attributed characteristics of the
private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
industry to
hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...
s. In 2012, Steinbrück tabled a plan for sweeping financial regulation that he intended to be a main plank of his election platform. It included compelling banks to finance a €200 billion rescue fund, and splitting investment from retail banking.


European integration

At the 2006 meetings of the
IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...
and the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, Steinbrück argued that, as the world's third largest economy after the US and Japan, Germany must keep its influence in the IMF amid wide-ranging reform of the institution, ruling out suggestions that the
Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...
members should have only one seat on the board as part of the planned overhaul of IMF members' votes.


Other activities


Corporate boards

*
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
, Member of the Supervisory Board *
ING Group ING Group N.V. () is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, whol ...
, Advisor to the Board of Directors of ING-DiBa *
ThyssenKrupp ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It resulted from the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg and E ...
, Member of the Supervisory Board (2010–2012) * KfW, Member of the supervisory board (2006–2009)


Non-profit organizations

* Berlin Palace–Humboldtforum Foundation, deputy chairman of the Board of Trustees * Deutsche Nationalstiftung, Member of the Senate * Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation, chairman * Helmut and Loki Schmidt Foundation, deputy chairman * ZEIT-Stiftung, member of the Board of Trustees * IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IG BCE), member


Controversy

Steinbrück has been labelled by the media as a sharp-witted political pugilist whose frank opinions have occasionally attracted controversy.


Business activities

As soon as he was nominated as the Social Democrat's challenger to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the 2013 federal elections, Steinbrueck announced he would quit the board of steel conglomerate
ThyssenKrupp ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It resulted from the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg and E ...
and all outside work, though not an unpaid seat on soccer club
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
's board where he saw no
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
. His decision prompted a slew of criticism of his high earnings outside the Bundestag from Merkel's center-right coalition but also from the SPD's left wing and from anti-graft campaigners. The seat on ThyssenKrupp's board and all but four of the other 85 appointments and engagements listed for the time between 2009 and 2012 were in excess of 560,000 euros. Later in his campaign, Steinbrück canceled a speech at Bank Sarasin & Cie after ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...
'' reported that the Swiss private bank was being investigated by German prosecutors for possible
tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...
. Soon after, he declared he had earned 1.25 million euros ($1.6 million) by giving 89 speeches between 2009 and 2012 at companies and banks including
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...
,
JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...
, BNP Paribas, Sal. Oppenheim,
Union Investment Union Asset Management Holding AG () is the Investment banking, investment arm of the DZ Bank, DZ Bank Group and part of the cooperative financial services network. It was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Frankfurt. Trading in open-end f ...
,
Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
,
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, or FBD) is a British multinational law firm headquartered in London, England, and a member of the so-called " Magic Circle". The firm has 28 offices in 17 jurisdictions across Asia, Europ ...
and Baker & McKenzie. This sum was in addition to his salary as a member of parliament, which was over 7,500 euros a month. The data also showed Steinbrück gave 237 other addresses for free to schools and charities, and got industry lobby groups to donate to charity instead of paying him. At the same time, he said the chancellor's salary, at about 250,000 euros annually, is too low because regional savings bank directors are paid more.


Namibia trip in 2007

In April 2007, when Germany held the presidencies of both the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
and the G7, Steinbrück was criticized for going on holiday with his family in
Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
instead of attending a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Washington and for refusing the offer of other G7 members to succeed
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
as chair of the International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC).


Diplomatic tensions with Switzerland and Liechtenstein

As finance minister, Steinbrück criticized Germany's neighbours in a row over
tax haven A tax haven is a term, often used pejoratively, to describe a place with very low tax rates for Domicile (law), non-domiciled investors, even if the official rates may be higher. In some older definitions, a tax haven also offers Bank secrecy, ...
s. In the wake of German investigations against the LGT Group of Liechtenstein in 2008, Steinbrück threatened that Germany would impose a levy on all fund transfers to the principality, in effect reinstating pre-1990s-style capital controls, if the country did not change its ways. Speaking to reporters in Paris after a conference on measures to combat
tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdictions that facilitate reduced taxe ...
, he said Switzerland deserved to be on a tax haven "black list" being drawn up by the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
because Swiss investment conditions encouraged some German taxpayers to commit fraud. He called on other European countries to "use the whip" on Switzerland over its tax havens, likening the Swiss to "Indians" running scared from the
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
. His criticism of the Swiss banking secrecy caused some tensions between Germany and Switzerland. The German ambassador to Bern was summoned to the foreign ministry to hear Switzerland's official reaction to what Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey described as Steinbrück's "contemptuous and aggressive" comments.


Comments on Italian election results

On 26 February 2013 Steinbrück said he was "appalled that two clowns have won" Italy's 24–25 February election. The vote was actually inconclusive with no party garnering a majority in parliament, although the anti-establishment party of commentator and comedian
Beppe Grillo Giuseppe Piero "Beppe" Grillo (; born 21 July 1948) is an Italian comedian, actor, Blogger (person), blogger, and politician. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as the co-founder (together with Gianroberto Casaleggio) of the Italian Fi ...
surged to about one fourth of valid votes. In reaction, Italian President
Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...
cancelled a dinner in Berlin with Steinbrück, who was German opposition's chancellor candidate.


NSA spying

In May 2021, Danish state broadcaster DR reported that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) used a partnership with the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (FE) to spy on Steinbrück and other senior officials in Germany, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.


Recognition

* 2011 –
University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
, Honorary Doctorate * 2011 – Steinbrück was awarded the Mercator Visiting Professorship for Political Management at the Universität Essen-Duisburg's NRW School of Governance


Personal life

Steinbrück's wife, Gertrud (born 1950), is a former biology and politics teacher at a high school in Bonn. They have three children.


References


External links


Peer Steinbrück's Homepage
(German)
Interview with Peer Steinbrück: "Kennen Sie denn Hawaii-Toast?"
(German
sbznet.de
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbruck, Peer 1947 births Living people University of Kiel alumni Politicians from Hamburg Finance ministers of Germany Members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-presidents of North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany