Poul Nyrup Rasmussen

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Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (2007)

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen ⁽ˈ⁾pʰʌʊ̯l ny (ː) ɔb̥ ˈʁɑsmusn̩ (born June 15, 1943 in Esbjerg ) is a Danish politician . He was Chairman of the Danish Social Democrats from 1992 to 2002 and Prime Minister from 1993 to 2001 . From 2004 to 2009 he sat in the European Parliament . From 2004 to 2011 he was also chairman of the Party of European Socialists .

Life

Coming from a working-class family, Nyrup Rasmussen studied economics at the University of Copenhagen , where he graduated in 1971. During his studies he joined the social democratic student association Frit Forum . Nyrup Rasmussen has been married to the prominent politician Lone Dybkjær since 1994 , who was a member of the Danish Folketing (1973–77, 1979–94 and 2005–11) and European Parliament (1994–2004) for the social liberal party Radical Venstre .

Prime Minister 1993-2001

Rasmussen replaced the conservative Poul Schlueter as head of government in 1993 . He formed a center-left coalition of Social Democrats , Social Liberal Radical Venstre , Centrum Democrats and Christian Democrat Kristeligt Folkeparti . To revive the economy, his first cabinet in 1993-94 under the social liberal economics minister Marianne Jelved and the social democratic finance minister Mogens Lykketoft resorted to a few Keynesian measures and then carried out numerous privatizations . An ecological tax reform in 1994 was controversial . It combined the introduction of ecological taxes on water, electricity, coal, motor vehicles, waste, sewage and plastic bags with a sharp cut in income tax rates . These fell from 52–68% to 38–58%. As the OECD noted, unemployment in Denmark fell after many predictions to the contrary, and Danish exports hardly suffered any losses.

After losing votes in the 1994 parliamentary elections, the Christian Democrats left the government, and in 1996 the Center Democrats also left the coalition. The remaining small coalition was narrowly confirmed in the 1998 election. After his re-election, Rasmussen announced that his first goal would be to ensure a yes to the ratification of the EU Treaty of Amsterdam . In fact, in the referendum that followed, a 55% majority voted in favor of the treaty. In the Danish referendum on the introduction of the euro that followed two years later , however, Rasmussen suffered a defeat; the common currency was rejected by 53.2% of voters.

In view of the high poll numbers for the governing parties, Rasmussen announced early elections in autumn 2001, arguing that this would give the new Prime Minister enough time to prepare for the Danish EU Council Presidency in 2002. During the election campaign, in which migration policy was the focus, the polls for the Social Democrats fell, while Venstre and right-wing populist Dansk Folkeparti gained support.

Finally, the Social Democrats suffered a serious defeat in the 2001 parliamentary election , with the worst election result since 1973. For the first time since 1924, they no longer formed the strongest parliamentary group in the Folketing . Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Venstre) became the new Prime Minister . Although Poul Nyrup Rasmussen initially announced on election evening that he would remain party chairman and initiate the renewal of the Danish Social Democrats, he resigned at the end of 2002 after his leadership in the party had been questioned.

European Parliament 2004–2009

In the 2004 European elections , Rasmussen was able to move into the European Parliament , where he joined the group of the Party of European Socialists (PES). He was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs .

One of the main themes of Rasmussen's activities in the European Parliament was the lack of regulation of hedge funds , which he criticized even before the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2007 . In September 2008, the report he submitted, which proposed binding regulations for all market participants, was approved by the European Parliament. In the months that followed, Rasmussen criticized the European Commission , particularly Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, for their inadequate response to this report. In March 2009, Rasmussen called for a new, expanded economic stimulus package for the EU and warned that otherwise there could be 25 million unemployed across Europe in 2010. Central and Eastern European countries in particular should receive support from the EU.

European Social Democratic Party

In the election of the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Europe (SPE), Nyrup Rasmussen prevailed against Giuliano Amato in mid-2004 and succeeded Robin Cook in this post. The post includes the coordination of the political program of the European Social Democrats and the representation of the party. Rasmussen endeavored to expand the possibilities of participation for the party base, for example through a Europe-wide consultation process when drawing up the party program for the 2009 European elections .

Nyrup Rasmussen resigned in November 2011.

Web links

Commons : Poul Nyrup Rasmussen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Martin Hentschel: "Wonderful Danmark"? The tax system and tax and social reform in Denmark, 1998. Online
  2. ^ "Rasmussen Report" on the homepage of the European Parliament
  3. ^ New PES leader opposes a 'Europe of different speeds'. In: Euractiv . November 29, 2011, Retrieved February 7, 2019 (UK English).
personal data
SURNAME Rasmussen, Poul Nyrup
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish politician, MEP
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Esbjerg