Bernd Althusmann
{{Short description|German politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Bernd Althusmann
|image = Althusmann.jpg
|caption = Althusmann in 2016
|office = Deputy Minister-President of Lower-Saxony
|1blankname = {{nowrap|Minister-President}}
|1namedata = Stephan Weil
|term_start = 22 November 2017
|term_end = 8 November 2022
|predecessor = Stefan Wenzel
|successor = Julia Hamburg
| office2 = Leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Lower Saxony
| deputy2 = Fritz Güntzler
Lena Düpont
Reinhold Hilbers
| term_start2 = 12 November 2016
| term_end2 = 21 January 2023
| predecessor2 = David McAllister
| successor2 = Sebastian Lechner
| office1 = Minister for Economics, Labour, Transportation and Digitization of Lower-Saxony
| term_start1 = 22 November 2017
| term_end1 = 8 November 2022
| predecessor1 = Olaf Lies {{small|(Economics, Labour and Transportation)}}
| successor1 = Olaf Lies
| 1blankname1 = {{nowrap|Minister-President}}
| 1namedata1 = Stephan Weil
| office3 = Minister of Education of Lower Saxony
| primeminister3 = Christian Wulff
David McAllister
| term_start3 = 27 April 2010
| term_end3 = 19 February 2013
| predecessor3 = Elisabeth Heister-Neumann
| successor3 = Frauke Heiligenstadt
| office4 = Member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony
for Seevetal
{{small|(CDU List; 1994–2009)}}
| term_start4 = 14 November 2017
| term_end4 =
| successor4 =
| predecessor4 = Norbert Böhlke {{small|(2014)}}
| term_start5 = 23 June 1994
| term_end5 = 16 June 2009
| successor5 = Elisabeth Heister-Neumann
| birth_date = {{nowrap|{{birth date and age|1966|12|3|df=y}}}}
| birth_place = Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, West Germany
{{small|(now Germany)}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
| allegiance = {{flag|Germany}}
| branch = {{flagicon image|Logo of the Bundeswehr (1996–2019).svg|50px|Emblem of German Ground Forces}} Bundeswehr
| serviceyears = 1986 - 1994
| unit = {{flagicon image|Bundeswehr Logo Heer with lettering.svg|50px|Emblem of German Ground Forces}}Army (Heer) / Panzertruppe
}}
Bernd Althusmann ({{IPA|de|ˈbɛʁnt ˈalthʊsman}}; born 3 December 1966) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Deputy Minister-President and State Minister for Economic Affairs in the government of Minister-President Stephan Weil from 2017 to 2022.
Career
From 1994 to 2009, Althusmann was Member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony. He served as State Minister of Education in the cabinets Wulff II and McAllister from 27 April 2010 until 19 February 2013.
In July 2011 it was reported that Althusmann had taken over texts or literal texts in several places in his dissertation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.zeit.de/2011/28/Althusmann-Dissertation-Plagiat/komplettansicht|title=Bernd Althusmann: Trübe Quellen|last=Spiewak|first=Martin|date=7 July 2011|work=Die Zeit|access-date=30 July 2019|language=de-DE|issn=0044-2070}} The University of Potsdam has not confirmed the plagiarism allegations, despite deficiencies.{{Cite web|url=https://business-and-science.de/plagiatsaffaere/|title=Plagiatsaffäre - Alle Fälle von A-Z {{!}} Business And Science|language=de|access-date=30 July 2019}}
Between 2013 and 2016, Althusmann headed the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's office in Windhoek, Namibia.
Althusmann was the CDU's leading candidate for the 2017 Lower Saxon state election.{{cite news|url=http://cdu-niedersachsen.de/bernd-althusmann-fuehrt-cdu-in-niedersachsen-als-spitzenkandidat-zur-landtagswahl/|title=CDU in Niedersachsen » Bernd Althusmann führt CDU in Niedersachsen als Spitzenkandidat zur Landtagswahl|publisher=cdu-niedersachsen.de|date=28 November 2016}}
On the national level, Althusmann served as a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2010,[https://www.bundestag.de/blob/191448/4b18dc667c176d34ee765a78cf19ba8e/14bundesversammlung-data.pdf Ordentliche Mitglieder der 14. Bundesversammlung] Bundestag. 2012,[https://www.bundestag.de/blob/192344/0b0787a2db63f7a3b9d158fb3c676ded/laender-data.pdf Ordentliche Mitglieder der 15. Bundesversammlung] Bundestag. 2017 and 2022.[https://www.landtag-niedersachsen.de/drucksachen/drucksachen_18_12500/10001-10500/18-10450.pdf Drucksache 18/10450: Niedersächsische Mitglieder der 17. Bundesversammlung am 13. Februar 2022] State Parliament of Lower Saxony. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, he co-chaired the working group on urban development; his counterparts were Kurt Gribl and Natascha Kohnen.[https://www.cdu.de/artikel/mitglieder-der-cdu-den-koalitionsverhandlungen-mit-csu-und-spd Members of the Coalition Talks with CSU and SPD] CDU. Together with Monika Grütters, Daniel Günther, Michael Kretschmer and Armin Laschet, Althusmann co-chaired the CDU’s national convention in Berlin in February 2018.[https://www.kas.de/documents/291599/291648/30.+Parteitagsprotokoll_2018_Internet.pdf/a5f778e1-3a7b-2236-ff48-4aae555d468d?t=1560859469519 Protokoll: 30. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 26. Februar 2018, Berlin] Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Since 2022, Althusmann has been chairing – alongside Gitta Connemann – a working group charged with drafting the CDU’s positions on energy policy.Daniel Delhaes (3 April 2022), [https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/grundsatzprogramm-die-cdu-beginnt-die-suche-nach-sich-selbst/28220024.html Die CDU beginnt die Suche nach sich selbst] Handelsblatt.
Other activities
=Regulatory agencies=
- Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), Alternate Member of the Advisory Board[https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Allgemeines/Bundesnetzagentur/BeiraeteundAusschuesse/Beirat/MitgliederBeirat/Mitglieder.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=94 Advisory Board] Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA).
=Corporate boards=
- Volkswagen, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2017)
- Deutsche Messe AG, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board (since 2017)[http://www.messe.de/de/unternehmen/wir/management-aufsichtsrat/ Supervisory Board] Deutsche Messe AG.
- JadeWeserPort, Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board (since 2017)
- Niedersachsen Ports GmbH & Co. KG (NPorts), Ex-Officio Chairman of the Supervisory Board (since 2017)
Political positions
During his election campaign, Althusmann publicly favored someone from outside the auto industry to succeed VW chief executive Matthias Müller and wanted to cede one of the state’s two board seats to a non-political expert.Andreas Cremer (8 August 2017), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-lowersaxony-vw-idUSKBN1AO08Z German state conservatives take tougher line on VW oversight] Reuters.Connor Murphy and Joshua Posaner (8 August 2017), [https://www.politico.eu/article/dieselgate-volkswagen-germany-parties-call-for-tougher-vw-oversight-after-lower-saxony-scandal/ German parties call for tougher VW oversight after Lower Saxony scandal] Politico Europe. But when his party lost the 2017 state elections to the SPD, he claimed the economy minister’s right to join VW’s supervisory board alongside Minister-President Weil.Andreas Cremer (22 November 2017), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-lower-saxony/lower-saxonys-new-government-says-will-keep-volkswagen-stake-idUSKBN1DM1Y9 Lower Saxony's new government says will keep Volkswagen stake] Reuters.
Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2021, Althusmann publicly endorsed Armin Laschet to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party’s chair.[https://www.haz.de/Nachrichten/Politik/Niedersachsen/CDU-Althusmann-sprich-sich-fuer-Laschet-als-neuen-Parteichef-aus Althusmann: Laschet soll neuer Parteichef werden] Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 February 2020. For the 2021 national elections, he later also endorsed Laschet as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel.Kristina Dunz (April 13, 2021), [https://www.rnd.de/politik/kanzlerfrage-laschet-oder-soder-althusmann-fordert-zu-schneller-losung-auf-CCFNG3IRI5BULD5PTRYSGN35RQ.html Althusmann fordert Laschet und Söder zu schneller Lösung auf] RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Bernd Althusmann}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Althusmann, Bernd}}
Category:Ministers of the Lower Saxony State Government