Jens Spahn | |
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_170.jpg) Spahn in 2025 | |
| Leader of theCDU/CSU in theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 5 May 2025 | |
| First Deputy | Alexander Hoffmann |
| Chief Whip | Steffen Bilger |
| Preceded by | Friedrich Merz |
| Minister of Health | |
| In office 14 March 2018 – 8 December 2021 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Hermann Gröhe |
| Succeeded by | Karl Lauterbach |
| Deputy Leader of theChristian Democratic Union | |
| In office 16 January 2021 – 20 January 2022 | |
| Leader | Armin Laschet |
| Preceded by | Armin Laschet |
| Succeeded by | Carsten Linnemann |
| Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance | |
| In office 3 July 2015 – 14 March 2018 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Minister | Wolfgang Schäuble Peter Altmaier(acting) |
| Preceded by | Steffen Kampeter |
| Succeeded by | Christine Lambrecht |
| Member of theBundestag forSteinfurt I – Borken I | |
| Assumed office 17 October 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jens Georg Spahn (1980-05-16)16 May 1980 (age 45) |
| Political party | CDU (since 1997) |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | University of Hagen (BA,MA) |
| Occupation |
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| Website | Official website |
Jens Georg Spahn (born 16 May 1980) is a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been a member of the lower house of the federal parliament, theBundestag (German:Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages, MdB), forSteinfurt I – Borken I since2002. Since 2025, he has been leading the jointCDU/CSU (Union)parliamentary group in the21st Bundestag, making him themajority leader.[2] He served asFederal Minister of Health in thefourth cabinet ofChancellorAngela Merkel from 2018 to 2021, including during theCOVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
At the time of his first election in 2002, Spahn – at age 22 – was the youngest member of the CDU in the German parliament. He has since been one of the mainsponsors of pension reform in Germany. He was a member of the Committee of Health of the 17th Bundestag and the CDU/CSU parliamentary group's spokesperson on health.
When Chancellor Angela Merkel stated her intention not to seek re-election for theCDU party leadership in 2018, Spahn announced his intention to stand for election as her successor inDecember 2018.[3] He was eliminated in the first round of voting; the position instead went toAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.[4] Following Kramp-Karrenbauer's decision to resign in February 2020, he announced that he would not run for the party's leadership but instead endorse candidateArmin Laschet.[5] His alliance with Laschet proved successful, as his ally became CDU party leader on 16 January 2021[6][7] and candidate for chancellor of theCDU/CSU party alliance on 19 April 2021.[8]
Spahn was born on 16 May 1980 inAhaus,North Rhine-Westphalia. He grew up with his two younger siblings in the village ofOttenstein in the north of Westmünsterland.[9] Spahn graduated in 1999 from the Episcopal Canisius school in Ahaus. In 2001 he completed an apprenticeship as a bank teller at theWestdeutsche Landesbank, and worked in that profession until 2002. In 2003, Spahn began studyingpolitical science at theUniversity of Hagen. In 2008, he obtained a bachelor's degree, followed by a master's degree in the same field in 2017.[10]
Spahn became a member of theJunge Union Deutschlands (JU) in 1995, aged 15. He went on to join the CDU in 1997. He was the chair of the Borken district JU from 1999 to 2006. In 2005, he also took up the chair of the Borken district CDU, which numbers 6,500 members.
In December 2014 Spahn unexpectedly stood for a place on the CDU's ruling council against health ministerHermann Gröhe, in a contest widely seen as crystallizing the generational tensions within the party. His election bid was backed by the then 72-year-old finance minister,Wolfgang Schäuble.[11] Shortly before the vote at the annual CDU party conference, Gröhe withdrew his candidacy and Spahn was elected.[12]
He has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Angela Merkel as Chancellor,[13][14] and stood in the CDU leadership campaign in 2018 after Merkel announced that she would not seek re-election as party leader. However, the 157 votes he secured, despite being more than expected, was insufficient for him to qualify for the second round of voting, which was won byAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.[4]
Spahn has been a member of the Ahaus City Council since 1999.
Spahn first became a member of parliament in the2002 elections. He has since won three consecutive elections in 2002, 2005 and 2009 in the constituency of Steinfurt I – Borken I. In 2005, he obtained 51.2% offirst preference votes. In the 27 September 2009 election, Spahn won again with 44.5% of theprimary vote, earning a direct mandate.[15]
From November 2005, Spahn served as the vice-chair of the CDU/CSU working group on health policy, while at the same time chair of the CDU–CSU parliamentary group in the Committee of Health. He was also a member of the CDU–CSU–SPD coalition working group, which brought about the 2007 health reform. Since 2009, he has been chair of the working group on health and health policy as well as the spokesman of the CDU–CSU parliamentary group on health policy.
Spahn was a substitute member of the Budget Committee. He is part of the "Young Group" of the CDU–CSU parliamentary group. Spahn co-founded a cross-party group of young MPs pushing for the integration of intergeneration equity as a national objective into Germany'sBasic Law.[16]
Between 2005 and 2013, Spahn served as deputy chair of the German–Dutch Parliamentary Friendship Group. Since 2014, he has been its chair.
In negotiations to form a government following the2013 federal elections, Spahn led the CDU–CSU delegation in the health working group; his co-chair from the SPD wasKarl Lauterbach.
In 2015, Spahn becameParliamentary State Secretary in theFederal Ministry of Finance under ministerWolfgang Schäuble in thethird cabinet ofChancellor Angela Merkel. At the ministry, he oversaw the German government'sannual budget. He was in charge of representing Germany in the negotiations on the annualbudget of the European Union.[17]
In thefourth Merkel cabinet, Spahn was appointedFederal Minister of Health in March 2018, succeedingHermann Gröhe. In addition, he chaired theEPP Health Ministers Meeting, which gathers the center-right EPP ministers ahead of meetings of theEmployment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO).[18] When Germany held the rotatingPresidency of the Council of the European Union in 2020, he chaired the meetings of EPSCO.
Global healthIn 2019, Spahn visited four countries in sub-Saharan Africa to witness up close the fight againstEbola.[19] AlongsideArmin Laschet, he was invited byPresident Emmanuel Macron ofFrance to attend the 2020Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, in a sign of gratitude for their role in helping French citizens during theCOVID-19 pandemic in France.[20] As a representative of the German government, he was later part of the delegation accompanying Macron on his state visit toSouth Africa in May 2021.[21]
Covid-19 pandemicOn 20 October 2020, Spahn stated on morning TV: ‘At least we know what the main causes of [COVID-19] infection are. Parties, social occasions, at home and in private or at events, when going to clubs.’Der Spiegel magazine later revealed that, on the very same evening, Spahn met around a dozen CDU party donors for a business dinner at an associate's house. According to the German news channel ntv, each guest was asked to donate €10,000 (£8,600) to take part. Spahn developed symptoms and tested positive the next day, which suggests he wasinfectious while attending the party.[22]
In March 2021, the "Burda mask deal" caused a major political storm when it was revealed that theBurda company had delivered half a million medical masks to the Spahn-ledFederal Ministry of Health for $4.50 each, without the Ministry having first put the deal out toopen tender. Burda, of which Spahn's husband,Daniel Funke, was the former editor-in-chief and lobbyist at the time of the deal, reportedly procured the protective masks for $1.73 each through aSingapore company. According topolls, the CDU/CSU coalition's popularity fell from 35 percent to 27 percent following the "Burda mask deal".[23]
From December 2021, Spahn served as one his parliamentary group's deputy chairs, under the leadership of successive chairsRalph Brinkhaus (2021–2022) andFriedrich Merz (2022–2025).[24] In this capacity, he oversaw the group’s legislative activities on economic affairs and climate protection.[25]
In the negotiations to form acoalition government of the CDU andGreen Party underMinister-President of North Rhine-WestphaliaHendrik Wüst following the2022 state elections, Spahn led his party's delegation in the working group on economic affairs, energy and climate protection; his co-chair from the Green Party wasMona Neubaur.[26]
An economic liberal and openly gay Roman Catholic, Spahn has combined a platform of lower taxes and less red tape with support for same-sex marriage.[11] In 2012, he and twelve otherCDU/CSU MPs united in their call for defending tax-law equality for couples registered in acivil union.[27] In a public vote in June 2012, he pushed for such legislation as well as to open marriage tosame-sex partners, but the bill was denied by his own party and eventually defeated.[28] By 2013, Spahn and others considered signing on to a "group petition," in which they would publicly side with the opposition on expanding the rights of registered same-sex partnerships to include all the tax benefits given to married heterosexual couples.[29] As health minister, he introduced a law in 2019 to banconversion therapy on under-18s, or coercing, deceiving or threatening anyone older into such treatment. Violators can be punished by up to a year in prison, while advertising or offering conversion therapy carry a fine of up to 30,000 euros.[30]
During theEuropean migrant crisis, Spahn emerged as a vocal critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy, arguing that their party had "perhaps put too much emphasis on the humanitarian approach".[31]
In August 2024 Spahn supported a stop of asyl migration at German borders.[32]
In April 2008, Spahn voiced his opposition togrand coalition plans to increase pensions because such a "gift" to the "medium and long-term retirees" would cost a "lot of money". He particularly criticized the arbitrary intervention of federal labour ministerOlaf Scholz in the form of a surprise announcement on pensions formula.[33]
This statement brought him strong criticism, especially from the Senior Citizens Union (Senioren-Union). Spahn received many insults and threats in the form of anonymous letters,inter alia, and complained of this in the media. The Senior Citizens Union announced it would do everything to prevent his re-election, but Spahn received the support of formerpresident of GermanyRoman Herzog.[34]
After the2013 federal elections, Spahn criticized the coalition pact between CDU/CSU and the SPD for making too many concessions to the SPD on lowering the retirement age from 67 to 63 for some workers.[35]
In November 2018, Spahn called forChildless Tax where Childless people should be paying much more towards care and pension insurance than those who have started a family.[36]
As part of coalition negotiations, Spahn and others succeeded in bringing "core demands for a black and yellow health policy" against the opinion of some like Rolf Koschorrek, in the form of a rearrangement of theInstitute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). In order to do so, they asked for a "realignment at the top of the house staff". This is because the coalition agreement says that "the work of the IGWiG is checked" and "its decisions are respected". This came at a time whenPeter Sawicki, the institute's director, had repeatedly voiced his opposition to the introduction of new medicine. JournalistMarkus Grill wrote about "Operation Hippocrates", an alleged plot to replace Sawicki with a more pharmaceutical industry-friendly candidate.[37]
During his time in office, the German government introduced measure to makemeasles vaccinations mandatory for children and employees of kindergartens and schools.[38]
In 2021, Spahn publicly called for Germany to reduce its over-reliance on China in many areas and to do more to diversify its export markets by sealing and finalising more trade deals with other countries and regions such as Canada.[39]
WhenDer Spiegel investigatedcorruption claims over Spahn's financial activities — involving property he had acquired privately as well as deals he had made withPPE suppliers as health minister — Spahn demanded journalists’ names and attempted in court cases to prevent the media from publishing exact figures and details.[46][47][48][49]
After the Vice President of theBundestag,Aydan Özoguz (SPD) shared a post ofJewish Voice for Peace on social media, he compared her in October 2024 to Nazi politician and military leaderHermann Göring. Spahn was critized for thisNazi analogy.[50]
Spahn is a self-describedRoman Catholic although he has problems with theCatholic Church and itssexual morality.[51] He lives with his husband Daniel Funke, a Germanjournalist andlobbyist,[52] inBerlin'sSchöneberg district.[53] In December 2017, the twomarried in a civil ceremony atBorbeck Palace inEssen, officiated by the city's mayorThomas Kufen.[54][55] In an article ofSüddeutsche Zeitung in July 2012, hishomosexuality was mentioned for the first time.[56][57] He is an honorary member ofFC Bayern Munich.[citation needed]
Media related toJens Spahn at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toJens Spahn at Wikiquote| International | |
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