Merkel IV cabinet

Merkel IV cabinet
24. Cabinet of the Federal Republic of Germany
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
choice	2017
Legislative period	19th
Appointed by	Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
education	March 14, 2018
Duration	2 years and 171 days
predecessor	Merkel III cabinet
composition
Party (s)	CDU, CSU, SPD
minister	15th
State Secretaries	35
representation
German Bundestag	398/709
Opposition leader	Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland ( AfD )

The Merkel IV cabinet is the 24th government cabinet of the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Germany .

The 19th German Bundestag , elected on September 24, 2017, was constituted on October 24, 2017. On March 14, 2018, the MPs elected Angela Merkel as Federal Chancellor with 364 votes in favor of 688 votes cast in the first round . Merkel and the federal ministers she proposed were appointed by the Federal President on the same day and sworn in by the President of the Bundestag . She has been Chancellor without interruption since November 22, 2005, making her the second-longest term of office of all German Chancellors (after Helmut Kohl ) since the end of 2019 .

The cabinet consists of members of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Those parties (not the parliamentary groups ) form a black-red grand coalition - as in 2005–2009 and 2013–2017. The coalition agreement of the 19th parliamentary term serves as the basis for joint government work.

Government formation

Signing of the coalition agreement on March 12, 2018 in Berlin.

In the 2017 federal election , the CDU and CSU together received the highest number of votes and 246 seats in parliament (200 CDU, 46 CSU), so that the joint CDU / CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, which has 709 members, again formed the strongest parliamentary group. A majority excluding the Union could only have been formed through coalitions that had already been excluded before the election.

The SPD received the second most votes and 153 seats in parliament for the SPD parliamentary group , but announced on the evening of the election that it would not be available for another grand coalition with the Union and would go into the opposition.

The only coalition option that was not previously ruled out was a Jamaica coalition made up of the four parties CDU, CSU, FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen .

After four weeks of exploratory talks to form a Jamaica coalition , the party chairman of the FDP, Christian Lindner , declared the negotiations to have failed on November 19, 2017.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier then announced intensive talks with the party leaders and emphatically reminded the elected members of the Bundestag of their obligation to the common good and to form a government before he would make a proposal for the election of the Federal Chancellor under Article 63.1 of the Basic Law .

A Kenya coalition made up of CDU, CSU, SPD and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen was also brought up for a while, but was rejected by the Alliance Greens, as this party would be meaningless for obtaining a majority. Since November 2017, Angela Merkel and the top leadership of the SPD have alternatively preferred a grand coalition (GroKo) with a renewed coalition agreement as in the previous legislative period as the ideal solution, but not the Jusos or large parts of the social democratic base. Again and again, not only members had spoken out in favor of opposition instead of renewed participation in government.

On January 12, the CDU, CSU and SPD concluded their exploratory talks and presented a 28-page paper. On January 21, at a special party conference of the SPD in Bonn, 56.4 percent of the delegates voted in favor of entering into coalition negotiations with the Union parties. The supporters came mostly from the party leadership, among the opponents were the Juso chairman Kevin Kühnert and the member of the Bundestag Hilde Mattheis , chairwoman of the forum Democratic Left 21 . After the negotiations were concluded in early February, the outcome of the negotiations was decided, as in 2013, with an SPD member vote that is not legally binding for the members of the Bundestag .

On February 7, 2018, the Union and the SPD agreed on a coalition agreement, which found a majority of 66.02% of the votes cast in the SPD's member vote by March 2, 2018. It was signed on March 12, 2018 in Berlin in the Paul Löbe House of the Bundestag. Criticism came from all opposition parties.

Overview of the parties involved in the governing coalition

Political party		Party chairperson	Political orientation	European party / group
	Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU, 200 seats)	Angela Merkel until December 7, 2018	Christian democracy , conservatism , ordoliberalism	EPP / EPP
		Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer from December 7, 2018
	Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD, 153 seats)	Andrea Nahles until June 3, 2019	Social democracy , progressivism	SPE / S&D
		Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken from December 6, 2019
	Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU, 46 seats)	Horst Seehofer until January 19, 2019	Christian democracy , conservatism, federalism , social market economy , economic liberalism	EPP / EPP
		Markus Söder from January 19, 2019

cabinet

Merkel IV cabinet - since March 14, 2018

Office or department	image	Surname	Political party		image	Parliamentary state secretaries or state ministers	Political party
Chancellor		Angela Merkel		CDU		Monika Grütters Culture and Media Hendrik Hoppenstedt Reduction of bureaucracy and better regulation, federal-state relations Annette Widmann-Mauz Migration, refugees and integration		CDU
						Dorothee Bär digitization		CSU
Deputy Chancellor		Olaf Scholz		SPD
Finances						Bettina Hagedorn Christine Lambrecht until June 27, 2019 Sarah Ryglewski from September 2, 2019		SPD
Interior, construction and home		Horst Seehofer		CSU		Günter Krings Marco Wanderwitz until February 2020 Volkmar Vogel from February 14, 2020		CDU
						Stephan Mayer		CSU
Foreign		Heiko Maas		SPD		Niels Annen Michelle Müntefering International Cultural Policy Michael Roth Europe, Franco-German Cooperation , German EU Council Presidency 2020		SPD
Economy and energy		Peter Altmaier		CDU		Thomas Bareiß Tourismus and since April 1, 2020 SMEs Christian Hirte Mittelstand and new federal states until February 2020 Marco Wanderwitz Neue Länder from February 2020 Oliver Wittke EITI until November 2019 Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker EITI from November 2019		CDU
Justice and consumer protection		Katarina Barley until June 27, 2019		SPD		Rita Hagl-Kehl Christian Lange		SPD
		Christine Lambrecht from June 27, 2019
Work and social		Hubertus Heil		SPD		Kerstin Griese Anette Kramme		SPD
defense		Ursula von der Leyen until July 17, 2019		CDU		Peter Tauber		CDU
		Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer from July 17th, 2019				Thomas Silberhorn		CSU
Food and Agriculture		Julia Kloeckner		CDU		Hans-Joachim Fuchtel Michael Stübgen until November 20, 2019 Uwe Feiler from December 3, 2019		CDU
Family, seniors, women and youth		Franziska Giffey		SPD		Caren Marks Stefan Zierke		SPD
health		Jens Spahn		CDU		Thomas Gebhart Sabine Weiss		CDU
Transport and digital infrastructure		Andreas Scheuer		CSU		Steffen Bilger Enak Ferlemann		CDU
Environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety		Svenja Schulze		SPD		Florian Pronold Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter		SPD
Education and Research		Anja Karliczek		CDU		Michael Master Thomas Rachel		CDU
economical co-operation and Development		Gerd Müller		CSU		Norbert Barthle Maria Flachsbarth		CDU
Federal Minister for Special Tasks and Head of the Federal Chancellery		Helge Braun		CDU

Senior Federal Minister

With over 11 years in office, Horst Seehofer is the longest serving federal minister in the current federal government (as of August 2020).

Changes

On June 27, 2019, Christine Lambrecht succeeded Katharina Barley as Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection . Barley was the top candidate of the SPD for the European elections in 2019 and changed on 1 July 2019 as a deputy in the European Parliament . Sarah Ryglewski became Lambrecht's successor in office as State Secretary on September 2, 2019.

On July 17, 2019, Ursula von der Leyen resigned from office because of her election as President of the European Commission as Federal Minister of Defense , on the same day Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was appointed as her successor, and the swearing-in ceremony took place on July 24.

On November 8, 2019, the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Oliver Wittke (CDU) left office at his own request. In 2020 he is to change the managing director of the real estate association ZIA , and Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker, a member of the Bundestag, was appointed his successor on November 29.

On November 20, 2019, the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Michael Stübgen, took over the offices of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister of Brandenburg and left the government. His successor on December 3rd was Uwe Feiler.

In February 2020, the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Christian Hirte (CDU), was dismissed from his post in connection with the election of the Prime Minister of the Free State of Thuringia. His successor in office was the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Marco Wanderwitz (CDU). His successor in the Federal Ministry of the Interior is Volkmar Vogel (CDU).

Documentaries

• Stephan Lamby : In the labyrinth of power - minutes of the formation of a government , SWR television , broadcast in: Das Erste , March 7, 2018
• Stephan Lamby: The emergency government - unloved coalition . SWR, NDR, rbb. Posted in: Das Erste , December 2, 2019.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Merkel re-elected , in: tagesschau.de of March 14, 2018.
2. ↑ ^{a b} SPD members vote for grand coalition , in: Spiegel Online , March 4, 2018, accessed on March 4, 2018.
3. ↑ Liberals break off negotiations in Jamaica , in: Spiegel Online , November 19, 2017, accessed on November 19, 2017.
4. ^ Declaration on the formation of a government . in Bellevue Palace , The Federal President . November 20, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
5. ↑ Schulz with the Jusos: "Let's fight for the way". In: tagesschau.de
6. ↑ SPD before talks Just no GroKo. In: tagesschau.de
7. ↑ The SPD has ideas: Groko, Kenya or Tolerierung. In: Zeit Online , November 24, 2017.
8. ^ Results of the exploratory talks between the CDU, CSU and SPD. (PDF) January 12, 2018, accessed January 12, 2018 . 
9. ↑ The GroKo explorers have agreed on this. In: Spiegel Online. January 12, 2018, accessed January 12, 2018 . 
10. ↑ SPD votes for coalition negotiations with the Union , in: Spiegel Online , January 21, 2017, accessed on January 21, 2017.
11. ↑ www.welt.de
12. ↑ And now the government is back , Sächsische Zeitung , March 12, 2018.
13. ↑ News. Retrieved February 12, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Volkmar Vogel is the new Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs. Retrieved February 14, 2020 . 
15. ↑ East representative must go to praise for Thuringian election. Retrieved February 8, 2020 . 
16. ↑ News. Retrieved February 12, 2020 . 
17. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: Federal Minister Altmaier thanks Parliamentary State Secretary Wittke for his work in the BMWi. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
18. ↑ Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker new special representative for the implementation of the initiative for transparency in the raw materials industry , December 19, 2019, accessed on December 31, 2019
19. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker becomes the new Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics. November 29, 2019, accessed December 1, 2019 . 
20. ^ Federal Government: New State Secretaries for Altmaier and Klöckner . In: Spiegel Online . November 27, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 30, 2019]).
21. ↑ ^{a b} Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture: Uwe Feiler is the new Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. December 3, 2019, accessed December 3, 2019 . 
22. ^ Bellevue Palace: Kramp-Karrenbauer officially appointed Minister of Defense . In: Spiegel Online . July 17, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed July 17, 2019]).
23. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: Federal Minister Altmaier thanks Parliamentary State Secretary Wittke for his work in the BMWi. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
24. ↑ Jörn Stender: CDU-MdB Oliver Wittke changes into the real estate industry. October 28, 2019, accessed on November 20, 2019 (German). 
25. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker becomes the new Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics. November 29, 2019, accessed December 3, 2019 . 
26. ↑ New state government constituted under the leadership of Prime Minister Woidke. Retrieved November 21, 2019 . 
27. ↑ Volkmar Vogel is the new Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs. Retrieved February 14, 2020 .