Hans-Peter Friedrich

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Hans-Peter Friedrich
Minister of Food and Agriculture
In office
17 December 2013 – 17 February 2014
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byIlse Aigner
Succeeded byChristian Schmidt
Minister of the Interior
In office
3 March 2011 – 17 December 2013
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byThomas de Maizière
Succeeded byThomas de Maizière
First Deputy Leader of the CDU/CSU Group in the Bundestag
In office
28 October 2009 – 3 March 2011
LeaderVolker Kauder
Preceded byPeter Ramsauer
Succeeded byGerda Hasselfeldt
Member of the Bundestag
for Hof
Assumed office
17 October 2002
Preceded byPetra Ernstberger
Member of the Bundestag
for Bavaria
In office
26 October 1998 – 17 October 2002
ConstituencyParty-list proportional representation
Personal details
Born (1957-03-10) 10 March 1957 (age 67)
Christian Social Union
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Augsburg

Hans-Peter Friedrich (born 10 March 1957) is a German politician of the

Minister for Food and Agriculture (2013). Friedrich resigned from that position in February 2014. Friedrich has a controversial history with minorities in Germany, causing outrage in 2013 after telling journalists that Islam in Germany is not something supported by history at any point.[2]

Early life and education

Born in 1957 in

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the economy department of the Germany Embassy in Washington, D.C.[3]

Political career

Early career

Friedrich began his national political career as an aide to Michael Glos, a senior CSU official in parliament.[4]

Friedrich has been a member of the Bundestag since the 1998 federal elections,.[4] He was deputy chairman of the investigating committee for party donations from 1999 until 2002 and for electoral fraud from 2002 until 2004. From 2002 until 2005 he was also judicial counselor of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

Following the

Grand Coalition with Angela Merkel as Chancellor, Friedrich became deputy chairman of the parliamentary group under the leadership of Volker Kauder, covering the portfolio of housing and development.[5] Between 2007 and 2009, he was one of 32 members of the Second Commission on the modernization of the federal state
, which had been established to reform the division of powers between federal and state authorities in Germany.

In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2009 federal elections, Friedrich led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on transport and building policies; his co-chair from the FDP was Patrick Döring.

From 2009, Friedrich led the CSU in parliament, replacing Peter Ramsauer. During that time, he was said to have enjoyed a good relationship with Merkel and to have often sided with national interests over Bavarian ones.[3] Economic policy was widely seen as his passion as he has supported raising the retirement age to 67 despite opposition from CSU leader Horst Seehofer.[3] He also played a behind-the-scenes part in crafting Germany's response to the euro zone crisis.[3]

Federal Minister of the Interior, 2011-2013

On 3 March 2011 Friedrich succeeded Thomas de Maizière as Federal Minister of the Interior[1] who replaced Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. The fact that Friedrich, like Guttenberg, came from the northern Bavarian area of Upper Franconia meant that his appointment ensured the regional balance of power within the CSU was maintained.[3]

On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the

state dinner hosted by President Barack Obama in honor of Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House.[7]

European integration

In early 2012, Friedrich became Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first Cabinet member to suggest Greece’s exit from the euro. In an interview with Der Spiegel, he said Greece would have better chances of overhauling its economy and restoring growth if it left the euro area.[8]

In late 2012, Friedrich called for the immediate suspension of the visa-free regime for

Macedonia after more than 7,000 citizens of the two countries applied for asylum in Germany within one year.[9]

Surveillance

In the wake of the US

Bundesnachrichtendienst as well.[11] In an effort to point out how valuable information provided by the NSA can be for Germany, he argued that forty-five terror attacks had been prevented by the Prism program, including five in Germany; however, he soon back-peddled, unable to pinpoint the five instances.[12] In a later interview with Münchner Merkur newspaper, Friedrich held that Edward Snowden was not a victim of political persecution.[13]

Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, 2013

In the negotiations to form a so-called Grand Coalition following the 2013 federal elections, Friedrich led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on internal affairs and justice; his co-chair from the SPD was Thomas Oppermann.

Friedrich was sworn in as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the

globally-operating child pornography syndicate,[16] and plans to take up an investigation against Edathy on suspicion of possessing such material.[14]

Vice-President of the German Bundestag, 2017–2021

Following the

Council of Elders
, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation.

In 2020, Friedrich co-founded the “China-Bridge” initiative, a non-profit networking association to strengthen links between Germany and China.[17][18]

Other activities

Corporate boards

  • Friedrich-Baur-GmbH, Member of the Advisory Board
  • Münchener Verein, Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

Personal life

Friedrich is married with three children.[22]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hans-Peter Friedrich.
  • List of Bavarian Christian Social Union politicians

References

  1. ^ a b "Neue Minister ernannt" [New ministers appointed]. Cabinet of Germany (in German). 3 March 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Is Britain Siding with 'Dubious' German Minister in EU Immigration Battle?". 7 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e Erik Kirschbaum and Eric Kelsey (2 March 2011), German ministers in cabinet reshuffle Reuters.
  4. ^
    Spiegel Online
    .
  5. ^ "Wechselt von der Leyen ins Gesundheitsministerium?". Hamburger Abendblatt. 2 October 2009.
  6. ^ Günther Bannas (30 May 2011), Hoffnung auf „Eurofighter“-Geschäft: Erste deutsch-indische Regierungskonsultationen Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  7. ^ Expected Attendees at Tonight's State Dinner Office of the First Lady of the United States, press release of 7 June 2011.
  8. ^ Tony Czuczka (25 February 2012), Germany’s Friedrich Urges Greek Exit From Euro, Spiegel Says Bloomberg News.
  9. European Voice
    .
  10. Spiegel Online
    .
  11. ^ "100-Millionen-Programm: BND will Internet-Überwachung massiv ausweiten". Spiegel Online (in German). 16 June 2013.
  12. Spiegel Online
    .
  13. ^ Stefan Wagstyl and Kiran Stacey (5 November 2013), Germany warns UK on spying Financial Times.
  14. ^ a b "German Agriculture Minister Friedrich resigns amid Edathy scandal". DW.DE. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  15. ^ Erik Kirschbaum (18 February 2014), Germany's Merkel convenes allies to restore confidence after scandal Reuters.
  16. ^ "German politician Edathy rejects child porn allegation". DW.DE. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  17. ^ Andreas Rinke (14 January 2020), Germany creates elite networking club to boost China ties Reuters.
  18. ^ Torsten Riecke (15 January 2020), Neues Netzwerk: CSU-Politiker Hans-Peter Friedrich schlägt Brücke zu China Handelsblatt.
  19. ^ "A Message from Germany" (PDF). Atlantik-Brücke e.V. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  20. ^ Board of Trustees Foundation for Family Businesses.
  21. ^ Advisory Board Stiftung Datenschutz.
  22. ^ Hans-Peter Friedrich: A conservative minister's slow decline Deutsche Welle, 14 February 2014.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of the Interior
2011–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection
Minister of Food and Agriculture

2013–2014 		Succeeded by