Rüdiger Kruse | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 2009–2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1961-06-10)10 June 1961 (age 64) |
| Political party | CDU |
Rüdiger Kruse (born 10 June 1961) is a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the GermanBundestag from 2009 to 2021.
Kruse was born inHamburg,West Germany. After attending elementary school in Hamburg, Kruse studied medicine at University, but did not complete the course. In the year 2000, he was appointed managing director of the Eimsbuttel Einfal Initiative for working and learning.[1] He subsequently became managing director of the Hamburg National Association for the Protection of German Forests and CEO of the Foundation Company Forest Germany – two shareholders of the Einfal company with 60 employees and approximately 900 participants. In addition, he served as a member of the Advisory Board ofHSH Nordbank in Hamburg.
Kruse joined the CDU when he was 16. From 2001 until September 2009, he was a deputy in theHamburg Parliament, where he was his parliamentary group's spokesman on policy development, finance, budget issues and sustainable development. He represented the CDU on several parliamentary committees, including the one on budgets, European affairs, environment and culture. In addition, he was a member of the Special Committee on Administrative Reform and two subcommittees, as well as finance areas and public companies. In 2007, Kruse was appointed to the City of Hamburg's Council on Climate Protection by MayorOle von Beust.[2]
Kruse was selected to contest the constituency ofHamburg-Eimsbüttel, which the CDU had never won and which theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) had held since the 1950s. However, the crisis in the SPD presented an opportunity[3] and in the2009 federal election, the SPD vote collapsed, with the party finishing third. Kruse gained the seat for the CDU, despite a slight drop in the party's vote share.
In parliament, Kruse was a member of the Budget Committee and the Audit Committee. He was also a deputy member of the Committee on Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.[4] A member of the Budget Committee from 2009, he served as his parliamentary group'srapporteur on the budgets of theFederal Chancellery; the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media; and theFederal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (2018–2021). In the Audit Committee, he served as the rapporteur on thebudget of theFederal Ministry of Defense (BMVg). Until 2017, he was also a member of the so-calledConfidential Committee (Vertrauensgremium) of the Budget Committee, which provides budgetary supervision for Germany's three intelligence services,BND,BfV andMAD. In 2018, he also joined the Parliamentary Advisory Board for Sustainable Development.
In addition to his committee assignments, Kruse was a member of the German-British Parliamentary Friendship Group, the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with theBaltic States (2009–2013). From 2019 to 2021, was a member of the German delegation to theFranco-German Parliamentary Assembly.[5] In 2020, Kruse co-founded a cross-party working group on diversity andanti-racism.[6]
In the negotiations to form acoalition government under the leadership ofChancellorAngela Merkel following the2017 federal elections, Kruse was part of the working group on economic policy, ledThomas Strobl,Alexander Dobrindt andBrigitte Zypries.
Throughout his time on the Budget Committee, Kruse has been a proponent of theMerkel government's policy to refrain from any net new borrowing and instead focus all efforts on achieving a structurally balanced budget.[7]
In June 2017, Kruse voted against his parliamentary group's majority and in favor of Germany's introduction ofsame-sex marriage.[8]
Kruse opposes the extension of nuclear power plants.[9]
In 2019, Kruse joined 14 members of his parliamentary group who, in an open letter, called for the party to rally aroundAngela Merkel and party chairwomanAnnegret Kramp-Karrenbauer amid criticism voiced by conservativesFriedrich Merz andRoland Koch.[10] He later endorsedNorbert Röttgen as Kramp-Karrenbauer's successor at the party's2021 leadership election.[11]
