Rainer Wend (born 8 March 1954) is a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) and currently lobbyist forDeutsche Post DHL. From 2002 to 2005, he was chairman of theBundestag-Committee Economics and Labour as well as spokesman of the SPD parliamentary party on Economic Affairs from 2005 till 2009. In July 2012, he was elected President ofEuropean Movement Germany.[1]
Wend was born inGütersloh. After graduating from high school, he started studying law which he successfully completed in 1979 with the first state examination. After his legal practical training he completed the second state examination and started his doctoral thesis at theBielefeld University. Wend has been qualified as lawyer since 1984.[2]Furthermore, he was curator of the New Social Market Economy Initiative.
Wend is married and has three daughters.[3]
Dr Rainer Wend has already been a member of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany since 1980. Throughout his studies he had been actively engaged in the respective campus group and became Head of the Young Socialists in Ostwestfalen/Lippe and later on Head of the SPD district Bielefeld (1988-1998). From 1998 till 2008 he had been a member of GermanBundestag. In 2002 he became chairmen of the Bundestag-Committee Economics and Labour and was named as spokesman of the SPD parliamentary party on Economic Affairs in 2008.[3]In 2008 he did not run for the reelections anymore and became the Head of Corporate Public Policy and Sustainability atDeutsche Post DHL.[4][5]
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Since Wend has been working for theBundestag, his political priorities are related to financial and economical topics as well as to theeuro-crisis. According to Wend important elements of crisis management are besides budget discipline and structural reforms in the affected countries a greater convergence of economic and financial policies of theEU members towards a “political union”.[6] Wend supports the introduction of afinancial transaction tax on a broad base.[7]In the course of the debates on theMultiannual Financial Framework of theEU, Wend and his British counterpart call for a growth-oriented budget framework.[8]Wend also represents the idea of a social Europe, as a political union only can succeed if the living conditions within Europe are comparable.[6]From July 2012 to 2018, Wend has been president ofEM Germany following SPD politicianDieter Spöri and being succeeded byLinn Selle.[9]
From 1994 until 2003, he was mayor ofBielefeld.[10]
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