Who is germanys finance minister

He afterwards declared he should have given up power a year earlier. They were sufficiently suspicious of him that they rejected his bid to become party chairman in — a decision for which Scholz now expresses full understanding. Experiences in Britain and France have not been much better. None of the five will go down in history as a successful leader. All finished with reputations blighted. In the unusually lively 12 September debate, Scholz had to fight off attacks from the normally affable Laschet, forced to show aggression to help revive flagging popularity ratings.

In the ministry, a huge building on Berlin's Wilhelmstrasse with more than 2, staff, they look closely at the financial requirements of all government departments and draw up the budget together with them. The Finance Ministry in Berlin's government district is one of the city's largest office buildings.

Scholz is now likely to be Germany's next chancellor. Hans Eichel from the SPD was finance minister from to He told German radio station Deutschlandfunk that he felt "strong" in the role — but added that for a government to be successful, collegial cooperation is more important than strong ministers. The finance minister can veto all other ministers in the Cabinet.

However, this is a "blunted sword," said Eichel. The veto can be overruled by a simple majority, so if the finance minister does not get his way, he or she would not emerge strengthened but weakened. Political scientist Jun believes it's better for a finance minister to build mutual trust and look for solutions together, instead of confronting other ministers.

The finance minister also carries weight on the international stage. Former minister Eichel called the Finance Ministry "the real European ministry.

Additionally, the finance minister represents Germany at the Eurogroup , which steers the monetary union, and on a global level at the G20, a group of the world's most powerful economies formed in The last five finance ministers had all held significant positions before their appointments. Eichel said it's not necessary for the minister himself to be a finance specialist as "the good experts are all in the ministry.

Lindner has no ministerial experience, but Habeck has governed at state level — he was deputy premier and headed the Environment Ministry in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein for six years. It's an advantage for a finance minister to understand government departmental coordination "from the inside," said Jun, because the Finance Ministry has to coordinate a great deal.

In Lindner's case, his personal experience in these matters is "rather thin," he added. Something will have to give. Odendahl said he expected the amount of necessary domestic investment identified by the next German government to set a benchmark for the rest of Europe. We may find the finance ministry will shape Christian Lindner more than he will shape his office.

Hope and fear in EU as hardliner tipped to be German finance minister. Free Democratic party leader Christian Lindner is a fiscal hardliner who some fear may drag the EU back to the standoffs of the eurozone crisis.