Carsten Schneider | |
|---|---|
 Schneider in 2025 | |
| Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Climate Protection and Nuclear Safety | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2025 | |
| Chancellor | Friedrich Merz |
| Preceded by | Steffi Lemke(Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection) |
| Minister of State for East Germany and Equivalent Living Conditions | |
| In office 8 December 2021 – 6 May 2025 | |
| Chancellor | Olaf Scholz |
| Preceded by | Marco Wanderwitz(as Parliamentary State Secretary for the New States) |
| Succeeded by | Elisabeth Kaiser |
| Chief Whip of theSPD Group in theBundestag | |
| In office 24 October 2017 – 8 December 2021 | |
| Leader | Rolf Mützenich |
| Preceded by | Christine Lambrecht |
| Succeeded by | Katja Mast |
| Member of theBundestag forThuringia | |
| Assumed office 26 October 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Norbert Otto |
| Constituency |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | (1976-01-23)23 January 1976 (age 49) |
| Political party | SPD |
Carsten Schneider (born 23 January 1976) is a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving asFederal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Climate Protection and Nuclear Safety in thegovernment ofChancellorFriedrich Merz since 2025.[1][2]
Schneider has been a member of the GermanParliament since1998.[3][4] From 2017 until 2021, Schneider was theFirst Secretary of his party's parliamentary group, in this position assisting the group's successive chairsAndrea Nahles (2017–2019) andRolf Mützenich (2019–2021). In addition to his parliamentary work, he served asParliamentary State Secretary for East Germany and Equivalent Living Conditions inChancellorOlaf Scholz'scabinet from 2021 to 2025.
After graduating from Wilhelm-Häßler-Gymnasium inErfurt,Thuringia, and completing hisalternative civilian service, Schneider accepted a position at an Erfurtsavings bank in 1998.[5]
Schneider has been married since 2003 and has two daughters.
Schneider joined theSPD in 1995.[6] He became active inYoung Socialists in the SPD and eventually was elected chairman of the Thuringian chapter. Until 2017, he also belonged to the leadership of the SPD in Thuringia.[7]
In the1998 federal elections, at age 22, Schneider became the then-youngest representative in the German Parliament,[8][9] representingErfurt from 1998 to2005 and the successor constituency ofErfurt – Weimar – Weimarer Land II since 2005. He was a member of the Budget Committee, where he served as his parliamentary group'srapporteur on the budgets of theFederal Ministry of Education and Research and theOffice of the Federal President. He is also a member of the Thuringian SPD parliamentary caucus, of which he became speaker in 2005.
From 2008 to 2010, Schneider was a member of the parliamentary body providing oversight of theSpecial Financial Market Stabilization Funds (SoFFin).[10]
In 2012, Schneider was selected as one of three speakers of theSeeheim Circle.[11]
In the negotiations to form aGrand Coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and theSocial Democrats (SPD) following the2013 federal elections, Schneider was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on financial policies and the national budget, led byWolfgang Schäuble andOlaf Scholz. He had previously publicly expressed his doubts about the Social Democrats joining a coalition government with the CDU/CSU, having preferred a coalition with the center-leftAlliance '90/The Greens.[12]
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Following the formation of thethird cabinet ofFederal ChancellorAngela Merkel, Schneider served as deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group under the leadership ofThomas Oppermann. He was also the chairman of the so-calledConfidential Committee (Vertrauensgremium) of the Budget Committee, which provides budgetary supervision for Germany's three intelligence services,BND,BfV andMAD.
In addition, Schneider has been a delegate to the Conference established under Article 13 of theEuropean Fiscal Compact since 2014; this body assembles members of the relevant committees of theEuropean Parliament and national parliaments to discuss economic and fiscal policy and other matters concerning stability, coordination and governance in theEconomic and Monetary Union of the European Union.
Following the2017 election, Schneider succeeded Christine Lambrecht asFirst Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group, in this position assisting the group's chairwomanAndrea Nahles.[13] In this capacity, he was also a member of the parliament'sCouncil of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation.
Ahead of the2021 elections, Schneider was elected to lead the SPD campaign in Thuringia for the fourth consecutive time.[14] In the negotiations to form a so-calledtraffic light coalition of the SPD, theGreen Party and the FDP following the elections, he led his party's delegation in the working group on economic policy; his co-chairs from the other parties wereCem Özdemir andMichael Theurer.[15]
In addition to his political work, Schneider holds a number of paid and unpaid positions.
Since 2001, Schneider has acted as chairman for “Erfurt Runs” (Erfurt rennt)[3] a relay race around theErfurt Cathedral to support tolerance and inclusion.[20] He is also a member of the board of trustees for theBonn-based Community-Mindedness Campaign.[21]
Schneider has been critical ofChancellor Angela Merkel and her policy ofbailouts forGreece andCyprus. In August 2011, he publicly criticized Labor MinisterUrsula von der Leyen for demanding collateral from euro-area members needing financial aid.[22]
Schneider also criticized a possible bailout that would not punish foreign tax evaders storing their money in Cypriot banks.[23] In April 2013, he helped build support among the SPD parliamentary group for the incumbent center-right government's move to contribute to a 10 billion euros international bailout ofCyprus that included losses for uninsured depositors in two of the island's banks.[24]
In 2011, Schneider and his counterpartNorbert Barthle from the Conservative CDU urgedPortugal to consider selling some of its gold reserves to ease debt woes[25] and therefore reduce the cost to German taxpayers of bailing it out.[26]
In an opinion piece for theFinancial Times,[27] he expressed doubt in Merkel and theCDU/CSU coalition's plan to begin torecapitalize banks involved inEuropean sovereign-debt crisis, saying:
In 2011, Schneider advocated a salary cap of 500,000 euros ($692,400) and a higher tax on bonus payments for bankers whose companies may need government help.[28]
On theEuropean Commission’s 2014 proposal for a structural reform of the EU banking sector, Schneider criticized the measures as insufficient and held that "separating certain risky business, such as credit to hedge funds, from banks' core business is a central lesson from the financial crisis".[29]
Schneider has been married since 2003. The couple has two daughters.
{{cite web}}:Check|url= value (help)| International | |
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| People | |
