Peter Altmaier (born 18 June 1958) is a German politician who has served as the Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery and as Federal Minister for Special Affairs since December 2013. Previously he was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety from May 2012 to December 2013. Altmaier is widely seen as one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's most trusted advisors and respected for his "compromising style."

Early life and education

Altmaier was born on 18 June 1958 in Ensdorf, Saarland. He is the son of a coalminer and a nurse. He studied law at Saarland University.

In addition to his native German, he speaks English and Dutch fluently.

Early career

Altmaier began his career as a research assistant for public and international law at Saarland University in 1995 and later at the European Institute of Saarland University. His tenure lasted until 2000. He worked for the Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission from 1990 to 1994.

Political career[edit]

Altmaier has been a member of the CDU since 1976.

Member of the Bundestag, 1994-present

Altmaier has been a member of the Bundestag since 1994. When the Bundestag created a committee to examine whether then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and others in the governing SPD party inflated economic figures before the 2002 federal elections to hide a growing budget deficit, he was chosen by his parliamentary group to lead the inquiry.

From 2006 to 2011 Altmaier was president of Europa-Union Deutschland, the German section of the Union of European Federalists.

Parliamentary State Secretary, 2005-2009

Following the 2005 federal elections, Altmaier became Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior underWolfgang Schäuble. In this capacity, he publicly admitted in 2009 that Germany followed a request of the government of Saudi Arabia it to grant influential cleric Abdullah Ibn Jibreen police protection in a Berlin hospital where he was undergoing heart treatment; the decision garnered sharp criticsm from the opposition parties, with the Green Party questioning why Germany hosted someone who "has called for the killing of Shiites [and] praised Osama bin Laden."

Chief whip, 2009-2012

Succeeding Norbert Röttgen as parliamentary secretary (chief whip) of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag following the 2009 elections, Altmaier was in charge of negotiating the passage of Eurozone crisis legislation through the parliament. He served as the government’s chief negotiator with the opposition Social Democrats and Greens, as well as with potential rebels from the government benches.

In 2012, Altmaier also served as chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel (PKGr), which provides parliamentary oversight of Germany’s intelligence services BNDBfV andMAD.

Return to the Federal Government

Altmaier replaced Norbert Röttgen as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety on 22 May 2012.

While in office, Altmaier coordinated the government's efforts to exit nuclear power generation by 2022 and rely on more renewable sources such as wind and solar. He also demanded companies to harvest metals including rare earths from recycled electronics as Germany sought to become less dependent on imports from China and other nations. Together with his French counterpart Delphine Batho, he put in motion the establishment of the French-German Office for Renewable Energies (L'Office Franco-allemand pour les energies renouvelables) in 2013.

In 2012, Altmaier led the German delegation to the 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha.

In 2013, Altmaier and Economics Minister Philipp Rösler reached agreement on far-reaching regulations for the fracking industry.

Chief of Staff of the Federal Chancellery, 2013–present

In the negotiations to form a government following the 2013 federal elections, Altmaier led the CDU/CSU delegation in the energy working group; his co-chair from the SPD wasHannelore KraftMinister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia. In Angela Merkel's third Cabinet he serves as the Chief of Staff of the Federal Chancellery and a Federal Minister for Special Affairs. In this capacity, he is also in charge of co-ordinating Germany’s intelligence services.

In July 2015, Altmaier invited the United States Ambassador to GermanyJohn B. Emerson, to explain documents publicized by WikiLeaks that showed what appeared to be summaries of recorded conversations involving Chancellor Merkel or senior officials. Shortly after, WikiLeaks released additional documents including Altmaier’s telephone number, adding to a growing pile of allegations that United States intelligence agencies conducted extensive surveillance of the German government.

In October 2015, Merkel put Altmaier in charge of coordinating Germany's response to the refugee crisis.

Political positions

Altmaier belongs to the more liberal wing of the CDU.

Responding to a growing unease over Germany's role in bailing out highly indebted European states, Altmaier in 2011 demanded that states that violate the EU's Stability and Growth Pact should be subject to the European Court of Justice. That same year, he advised against Germany pursuing a prompt debt haircut for Greece and warned of the consequences. According to Altmaier, the banks must be supported, in Greece and elsewhere, and the European Financial Stability Facility might have to issue guarantees for the holders of Italian and Spanish bonds, because they also fear that they will be asked to pay up.

 
The object of mass VOTE: Peter Altmaier.  
German political

Rate the damage it causes (does not cause) the object of VOTE to the European Commonwealth.

Method of ethical VOTE is to choose one of the following  values:

 0 - moral, there is no prejudice to the European community;
-1, -2, -3 - minor damage, harm to the European community;
-4, -5, -6 - damage of medium gravity for the European community;
-7, -8, -9, -10 - substantial damage, harm to the European community.

 

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