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Christian Lindner

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This article is about the politician. For the journalist, see Christian Lindner (journalist).

Christian Wolfgang Lindner
MdB
Lindner in 2021
Minister of Finance
In office
8 December 2021 – 7 November 2024
ChancellorOlaf Scholz
Preceded byOlaf Scholz
Succeeded byJörg Kukies
Leader of the Free Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 December 2013
DeputyWolfgang Kubicki
Nicola Beer
Johannes Vogel
General
Secretary		Nicola Beer
Linda Teuteberg
Volker Wissing
Preceded byPhilipp Rösler
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office
24 October 2017 – 7 December 2021
Chief WhipMarco Buschmann
DeputyKatja Suding
Michael Theurer
Stephan Thomae
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff
Christian Dürr
Frank Sitta
Preceded byRainer Brüderle (2013)
Succeeded byChristian Dürr
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
31 May 2012 – 10 October 2017
Preceded byGerhard Papke
Succeeded byChristof Rasche
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
13 May 2012 – 27 November 2017
Preceded byDaniel Bahr
Succeeded byJoachim Stamp
General Secretary of the Free Democratic Party
In office
24 December 2009 – 14 December 2011
LeaderGuido Westerwelle
Philipp Rösler
Preceded byDirk Niebel
Succeeded byPatrick Döring
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Bundestag
for North Rhine-Westphalia
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 October 2017
Preceded bymulti-member district
ConstituencyFree Democratic Party List
In office
27 October 2009 – 10 July 2012
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded byHans-Werner Ehrenberg
ConstituencyFree Democratic Party List
Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
31 May 2012 – 10 October 2017
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded byLorenz Deutsch
ConstituencyFree Democratic Party List
In office
1 June 2000 – 18 November 2009
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded byUte Dreckmann
ConstituencyFree Democratic Party List
Personal details
Born
Christian Wolfgang Lindner

(1979-01-07) 7 January 1979 (age 45)
Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Political partyFree Democratic
Spouses
​
​
(m. 2011; div. 2020)​
​
(m. 2022)​
Alma materUniversity of Bonn (MA)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Germany
Branch/service Bundeswehr
Years of service2002–present
RankMajor
Unit German Air Force Reserve

Christian Wolfgang Lindner (born 7 January 1979) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who was the Federal Minister of Finance from 8 December 2021 to 7 November 2024. On 6 November 2024, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz removed Lindner from his position, Scholz’s reasoning being that a joined coalition proved impossible. Lindner has been the party leader of the FDP since 2013 and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) for North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017, previously holding a seat from 2009 until 2012.[1][2]

Early life and education

[edit]

Christian Lindner was born in Wuppertal, West Germany. His father Wolfgang Lindner is a teacher of mathematics and computer science at the Städtisches Gymnasium in Wermelskirchen.

After graduating from Gymnasium in 1998 and an alternative civilian service, Christian Lindner studied political science at the University of Bonn from 1999 to 2006.[3] After eleven semesters he acquired the academic degree of Magister Artium (M.A). In his master's thesis at the Institute of Political Science, he dealt with the topic: "Tax competition and revenue sharing. Can the financial constitution be reformed?"[4] In 2006, he began writing his dissertation under supervision from political science professor Frank Decker, which he has so far not completed due to his political activities.[5]

While studying, Lindner became a reserve officer in the German Air Force. In 2002, he was promoted to First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant) in the Reserve. In 2008 he was a liaison officer to the state command Landeskommando of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf. Since September 2011 he has held the rank of Captain (Hauptmann) in the Reserve.[6][7] Currently, Lindner is a Major in the Air Force.[8]

Early political career

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Lindner joined the FDP in 1995.[9] He has been a member of the executive board of the FDP in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 1998 and became Secretary General in 2004 (until February 2010).[9] At the May 2000 election for the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, the 21-year old Lindner was elected, becoming the youngest MP in the history of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.[9] Lindner was from 2000 initially 'spokesman for Intergenerational Affairs, Family and Integration' and then from 2005 to 2009 was also vice chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the parliament and spokesman for Innovation, Science and Technology. In 2007 he also became a member of the executive board of the FDP on federal level.

From 2009 Lindner was a member of the German Bundestag. In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2009 federal elections, he was part of the FDP delegation in the working group on families, integration of immigrants and culture, led by Maria Böhmer and Hans-Joachim Otto.

From December 2009 until his surprise resignation[10] in December 2011, Lindner was also Secretary General of the FDP on federal level, largely under the leadership of party chairman Guido Westerwelle and later under Philipp Rösler when Westerwelle had to resign.[9] Lindner's resignation was caused by an internal party vote which had been forced by a group centered around the Eurosceptic FDP parliamentarian Frank Schäffler to determine the FDP's future course on questions pertaining to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).[11]

Lindner was later chosen to chair the NRW FDP in the 2012 state election of North Rhine-Westphalia, succeeding Daniel Bahr.[12] In the election, the FDP received 8.6% of the vote,[13] surpassing all expectations at the time as the party had been fighting over all the country to reach the minimum representation of 5% for years and was losing representation in several states.[14] Following the party's victory at that election he was elected Parliamentary leader of the FDP in the NRW Landtag, succeeding Gerhard Papke on 15 May 2012, and worked in the opposition. In March 2013, he was elected one of Rösler's deputies, alongside Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and Holger Zastrow.

FDP Chairman

[edit]

Lindner was elected the new chairman of the FDP following the resignation of Chairman Philipp Rösler after the 2013 German federal elections[15] in which the FDP failed to clear the 5% hurdle to enter the Bundestag for the first time since 1949.[16]

Ahead of the 2014 European elections, Lindner and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte served as 'mediators' between Olli Rehn and Guy Verhofstadt, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe's candidates for the presidency of the European Commission;[17] eventually, the candidates agreed to jointly lead the ALDE's campaign for elections, with Verhofstadt running to succeed José Manuel Barroso.[18] At the time, Lindner was widely regarded to support Rehn.[19]

Lindner was a FDP delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2017, where he endorsed the government's candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[20] That same year, he led his party's successful campaign for the 2017 state elections of North Rhine-Westphalia, which resulted in the FDP joining the state government of incoming Minister-President Armin Laschet. Lindner himself did not take a position in the new government because of his aim to lead the FDP back to the Bundestag in September 2017, which he achieved with a result of 10.7%. After that success he was elected leader of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

In October 2017, Angela Merkel's CDU and Katrin Göring-Eckardt's and Cem Özdemir's Greens started negotiations with the FDP to form a government, in which Lindner was widely seen as the future Minister of Finance, as the CDU had even nominated the former Minister Wolfgang Schäuble as President of the Bundestag to make place for the FDP. Such a coalition was the only realistic possibility to form a government (except for a Grand coalition) but had almost never been used before on any regional level in Germany. In November 2017, after midnight, Lindner and his party left the already prolonged negotiations after four unsuccessful weeks, which led to the longest government formation in German history and finally in March 2018 once more to a Grand Coalition with the SPD, which had previously rejected any participation in the new government.

In 2021 Christian Lindner was re-elected federal chairman of the FDP with 93 percent of the vote and at the same time was chosen as the party's top candidate for the federal election.[21]

Federal Minister of Finance

[edit]

Following the 2021 German federal election, the FDP agreed to enter government with the Greens and Social Democrats, as part of a traffic light coalition led by Olaf Scholz. Lindner was named as Finance Minister, and took office on 8 December 2021.[22]

After the G7 countries announced that they would present strong sanctions against Russia, Lindner stated that they should target Russian oligarchs. He stated: "We are working on further sanctions. I am particularly concerned that the oligarchs should be affected. Those who have profited from Putin and stolen the wealth of the Russian people, including through corruption, should not be allowed to enjoy their prosperity in our Western democracies".[23]

On the night of 24 February 2022, right after Russia started its invasion of Ukraine, Lindner according to the Ambassador of Ukraine in Germany told Ukraine's ambassador Andriy Melnyk that "Ukraine has only a few hours" left, so he opposed arms supplies to Kyiv and Russia's disconnection from SWIFT.[24][25] On 17 May 2022, Lindner said he is "politically open to the idea of seizing" the frozen foreign-exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Russia —which amount to over $300 billion— to cover the costs of rebuilding Ukraine after the war.[26]

In August 2022, Lindner announced a "big step" to improve anti-money laundering and sanctions enforcement in Germany: he wanted to create a "Federal Financial Criminal Investigation Office" to end the good conditions for money laundering in Germany.[27][28] The GdP warned of fragmented responsibilities and authorities at federal and state levels; rather, Lindner should strengthen the existing Federal Customs Office. To this day there is no "Federal Financial Criminal Investigation Office".[27] Experts criticize that the new agency lacks the authority to seizure suspicious assets by administrative order and the exclusion of tax-related offences from its jurisdiction, according to a draft published until September 2023.[29]

Lindner has been a staunch defender of the constitutionally-enshrined debt brake and seen as reluctant to agree another suspension in 2024.[30]

In July 2024 Lindner argued that Germany would need to halve its aid to Ukraine.[31] In August 2024 Lindner halted new aid to Ukraine, saying the aid would in future be supplied from the frozen funds in the west of the Russian Central Bank. Robert Habeck, among others, thought that this might stress the ruling coalition,[32] and this had already impacted the promised Diehl IRIS-T system, which turned out not to have been funded by Germany after all because of the restrictions put in place by Lindner.[33]

In September 2024, Lindner agreed with an FDP position paper that proposed cuts to the social benefits for asylum seekers, as well as designating some North African countries as "safe" for ease of repatriation.[34]

On 6 November 2024, Lindner's dismissal was proposed by Olaf Scholz, citing loss of trust.[35] On 7 November he was dismissed from office by the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[36] His removal led to the collapse of the governing coalition, with two other FDP members resigning from their ministries and a third minister leaving the FDP.[37]

Other activities

[edit]

International organizations

[edit]

Corporate boards

[edit]
  • KfW, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (since 2021)[43]
  • RAG-Stiftung, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2021)[44]

Non-profit organizations

[edit]

Political positions

[edit]

Foreign policy

[edit]

In 2022, Lindner called for renewed talks over a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, aiming to revive discussions on the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).[52]

Entrepreneurship

[edit]

In early 2015, an impassioned response to heckling by Lindner, defending entrepreneurs and startup culture, made it onto newspaper front pages and became one of the most watched political speeches in months. Lindner was speaking before the state legislature in North Rhine-Westphalia about the importance of entrepreneurship and how failed entrepreneurs deserve a second chance when a Social Democratic member in the audience heckled: "That [failure] is something you have experience in." That was a reference to an Internet company co-founded by Lindner that failed after the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s. Lindner responded with a 2½-minute speech, saying: "If one succeeds, one ends up in the sights of the Social Democratic redistribution machinery and, if one fails, one can be sure of derision and mockery." He added that this particular member preferred to have a secure job in public service for his entire life, rather than daring to found a company, and how the message of that heckling attempt was the total opposite of what had been announced just minutes earlier by the president of the state legislature, who also happened to be an SPD member.[53][54]

Bild, the highest-circulation tabloid in Germany, praised Lindner on its front page. The Berlin daily Tagesspiegel said the rant offered a welcome contrast to the "persistent fog of alternative-less Merkelism" that characterized debate in the Bundestag.[53] What they were referring to was the situation that because of the narrow defeats of the FDP and the AfD, the opposition in the Bundestag only included left parties. Many policies of Merkel's government directly came from their centre-left coalition partner SPD or were at least negotiated and harmonised with them, and then only left parties reacted on them, who usually criticized those policies as inadequate and advocated for more investment into them or stronger policies, but did not oppose them on a principled basis.

Financial policy

[edit]

Shortly after the 2017 elections, Lindner ruled out taking on new debt to manage the balancing act of cutting income taxes and increasing investment on digital infrastructure. He criticized outgoing Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble for not being tough enough on Greece and not cutting income taxes for middle-class workers.[55]

German farmers' protests

[edit]

Lindner criticized some of the actions taken during the 2023–2024 German farmers' protests, especially after the blockade of Robert Habeck on a ferry.[56]

Reception

[edit]

US economist Joseph Stiglitz and British economist Adam Tooze criticized Lindner's fiscal positions in 2021, arguing that, if put into practice, they would pose a threat to the economic future of Germany and Europe. They called his positions an "accumulation of conservative clichés" from a "bygone era" that had become obsolete "after three decades of crisis on the financial markets, in geopolitics [and] in the environmental field".[57]

Personal life

[edit]

In 2011, Lindner married journalist Dagmar Rosenfeld; they had started dating in 2009.[58][59] On 19 April 2018, they announced their separation.[60] In 2018, he started dating journalist Franca Lehfeldt, whom he married in 2022.[61]

Publications

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Editor

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  • Knüppel, Hartmut (2001). Die Aktie als Marke (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Verl.-Bereich Buch. ISBN 978-3-933180-83-4.
  • Lindner, Christian (14 October 2012). Avatare (in German). Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-62397-4.
  • Rösler, Philipp; Lindner, Christian (25 March 2009). Freiheit: gefühlt - gedacht - gelebt (in German). Wiesbaden: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-531-16387-1.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Christian Lindner ist Bundesminister der Finanzen". German Federal Ministry of Finance.
  2. ^ "Geschäftsordnung der Bundesregierung". Die Bundesregierung (in German). Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Im Sprint ins Ziel: Mathematik in vier Semestern – Juni – Universität – FernUniversität in Hagen". Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  4. ^ (In german: Steuerwettbewerb und Finanzausgleich. Kann die Finanzverfassung reformiert werden?), »Bambi« legt los., Der Spiegel, 29 November 2004.
  5. ^ Daniel Dettling (Hrsg.): Minima Moralia der nächsten Gesellschaft. Standpunkte eines neuen Generationenvertrags. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16475-5, S. 168.
  6. ^ Verbindungsoffizier zum Landeskommando. In: Rheinische Post. 26. Juli 2008.
  7. ^ De Maizière befördert Lindner zum Hauptmann. In: Handelsblatt, 16. September 2011.
  8. ^ "Christian Lindner CV English" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 July 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Christian_Lindner_englisch.pdf" (PDF). www.christian-lindner.de. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  10. ^ "FDP general secretary Lindner resigns". 14 December 2011.
  11. ^ Senior FDP Official Resigns: Merkel's Coalition Partner Falls Further into Crisis Spiegel Online, 14 December 2011.
  12. ^ "Landtag NRW: Abgeordneter Christian Lindner". Landtag Nordrhein-Westfalen. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  13. ^ "Landtagswahl 2012 in NRW". www.wahlergebnisse.nrw.de.
  14. ^ Kulish, Nicholas (13 May 2012). "In Rebuke to Merkel's Party, Social Democrats Win German Vote". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "Aktuelle Nachrichten – Inland Ausland Wirtschaft Kultur Sport". tagesschau.de.
  16. ^ "FDP, a post-war fixture, is out of parliament". DW.COM.
  17. ^ ALDE candidates European Voice, 8 January 2014.
  18. ^ Toby Vogel (20 January 2014), Verhofstadt, Rehn agree campaign roles European Voice.
  19. ^ Peter Spiegel (2 January 2014), Europe's leaders divided on how to pick next EC president Financial Times.
  20. ^ Wahl der Mitglieder für die 16. Bundesversammlung Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, decision of 14 December 2016.
  21. ^ "FDP-Vorsitzender Lindner auf Bundesparteitag wiedergewählt". MDR.DE (in German). Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  22. ^ Posaner, Joshua (8 December 2021). "Meet Germany's new government". Politico. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  23. ^ "Tysk minister: Nye G7-sanksjoner burde rettes mot russiske oligarker" (in Norwegian). ABC Nyheter. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  24. ^ Gerster, Livia. "Ukrainischer Botschafter: Sie wollen seine Worte nicht hören". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  25. ^ "У Берліні давали Україні "кілька годин" після вторгнення РФ, тому не допомагали – посол". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Germany open to Russian Central Bank asset seizure to finance Ukraine's recovery". Euractiv. 17 May 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Sanktionen durchsetzen und Geldwäsche bekämpfen". www.gdp.de (in German). 16 September 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  28. ^ "Christian Lindner treibt Pläne für Bundesfinanzkriminalamt voran – diruj" (in German). Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  29. ^ ""Lindner schafft es nicht zu liefern"" (in German). 21 September 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  30. ^ Christian Kraemer and Maria Martinez (1 December 2023),German finance minister defends 2023 debt brake suspension forced by court ruling Reuters.
  31. ^ "Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine".
  32. ^ "Germany to halt new Ukraine military aid: Report".
  33. ^ "Germany to limit military aid to Ukraine due to budget cuts".
  34. ^ von der Burchard, Hans (20 September 2023). "Germany's Greens and Liberals call for action on immigration as far right strengthens". Politico. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  35. ^ tagesschau.de. "Kanzler Scholz entlässt Finanzminister Lindner". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  36. ^ "Schloss Bellevue: Bundespräsident Steinmeier überreicht Christian Lindner die Entlassungsurkunde – Video – WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  37. ^ "German coalition collapses after Scholz fires key minister". BBC. 7 November 2024.
  38. ^ Board of Governors Archived 28 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
  39. ^ Board of Governors Archived 16 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine European Investment Bank (EIB).
  40. ^ Board of Governors: Christian Lindner European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
  41. ^ Board of Governors Archived 29 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
  42. ^ Members Archived 11 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine International Monetary Fund (IMF).
  43. ^ Board of Supervisory Directors and its Committees KfW.
  44. ^ Board of Trustees Archived 20 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine RAG-Stiftung.
  45. ^ Lothar Schmalen (28 November 2018), FDP-Chef Lindner sitzt jetzt im BVB-Wirtschaftsrat – kein Einzelfall Neue Westfälische.
  46. ^ "Aktive Bürgerschaft". www.aktive-buergerschaft.de. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  47. ^ "www.en.freiheit.org – Organization". www.freiheit.org. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  48. ^ "ZDF-Fernsehrat beschneidet Politikerzahl nicht". Tagesspiegel (in German). 16 May 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  49. ^ Board of Trustees Archived 13 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung.
  50. ^ Advisory Board Walther Rathenau Institute.
  51. ^ Board of Trustees[permanent dead link‍] NRW Foundation.
  52. ^ Tom Sims (20 March 2022), Germany calls for new talks on transatlantic trade deal Reuters.
  53. ^ a b Troianovski, Anton (3 February 2015). "Video Rant Wins Praise for Struggling German Political Party". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  54. ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015.
  55. ^ Michael Nienaber (6 October 2017), FDP leader wants tougher euro zone policy, no new German debt Reuters.
  56. ^ "Lindner appelliert an Landwirte: "Sie haben sich verrannt, bitte kehren Sie um"". stern.de (in German). 6 January 2024.
  57. ^ Stiglitz, Joseph E.; Tooze, Adam (27 October 2021). ""It Would Be a Mistake to Grant Him His Wish"". Die Zeit. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  58. ^ "FDP-Generalsekretär heiratet Dagmar Rosenfeld". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  59. ^ "FDP-Chef: Christian Lindner ist wieder Single". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 19 April 2018.[permanent dead link‍]
  60. ^ Matthew Karnitschnig (18 May 2018), German liberal leader's 'midlife crisis' Politico Europe.
  61. ^ "German finance minister gets married at exclusive island of Sylt". MSN.com. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
[edit]
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Party political offices
Preceded by Secretary General of the Free Democratic Party
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Free Democratic Party
2013–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Finance
2021–2024 		Succeeded by
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