Friedrich Merz

Friedrich Merz
Leader of the CDU/CSU Group in the Bundestag
In office
29 February 2000 – 22 September 2002
Preceded by Wolfgang Schäuble
Succeeded by Angela Merkel
Member of the Bundestag
for Hochsauerlandkreis
In office
16 October 1994 – 27 September 2009
Preceded by Friedrich Tillmann
Succeeded by Patrick Sensburg
Member of the European Parliament
for Germany
In office
18 June 1989 – 12 June 1994
Personal details
Born (1955-11-11) 11 November 1955
Brilon, North Rhine-Westphalia
Nationality German
Political party  German:
Christian Democratic Union
 EU:
European People's Party
Alma mater University of Bonn
Occupation Lawyer
Website www.friedrich-merz.de

Friedrich Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician, a former Member of the European Parliament (1989–1994), a former member of the Bundestag (1994–2009), and a former chairman of CDU/CSU parliamentary group (2000–2002).

He was elected chairman of the CDU/CSU group in the same year as Angela Merkel was elected chairman of the CDU, one of the two parties constituting the CDU/CSU group. In 2002, he stepped down as chairman in favour of Merkel.

He is also a Senior Counsel at Mayer Brown's Düsseldorf office,[1] having joined the firm's corporate finance team in 2004, after spending several years at Cornelius Bartenbach Haesemann.[2]

Early life

After finishing Abitur in 1975 and serving in the army Merz began to study law (1976) in Bonn. He became a member of KDStV Bavaria Bonn, a Catholic student fraternity that is member of the Cartellverband. After finishing law school in 1985 he became a judge in Saarbrücken. In 1986 he quit his position in order to work as an attorney-at-law.

Political career

Member of the European Parliament, 1989–1994

From 1989 till 1994 Merz was a Member of the European Parliament, where he served on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and on the parliament's delegation for relations with Malta.

Member of the German Bundestag, 1994–2009

From the 1994 German elections, he served as member of the Bundestag for his constituency, the Hochsauerland. In his first term, he was a member of the Finance Committee.

In October 1998 Merz became vice-chairman and in February 2000 Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group (alongside Michael Glos), succeeding Wolfgang Schäuble. In this capacity, he was the opposition leader in the Bundestag during Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's first term.

Ahead of the 2002 elections, Edmund Stoiber included Merz in his shadow cabinet for the Christian Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbent Schröder as chancellor. During the campaign, Merz served as Stoiber’s expert for financial markets and the national budget.[3] After Stoiber’s electoral defeat, Angela Merkel assumed the leadership of the parliamentary group; Merz again served as vice-chairman until 2004. From 2002 to 2004, he was also a member of the executive board of the CDU, again under the leadership of Merkel.

Between 2005 and 2009, Merz was a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs. By 2007, he announced he would not be running for political office in the 2009 elections.

Career in the private sector

Upon leaving politics, Merz has taken on numerous positions on corporate boards, including the following:

Between 2010 and 2011, Merz represented the shareholders of WestLB, a publicly owned institution that had previously been Germany’s third-largest lender, in talks with bidders.[9] In 2012, he joined Norbert Röttgen’s campaign team for the North Rhine-Westphalia state election as advisor on economic policy.[10] He served as a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2012[11] and in 2017.

In November 2017, Merz was appointed by Minister-President Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia as his Commissioner for Brexit and Transatlantic Relations, an unpaid advisory position.[12][13]

Other activities (selection)

  • Deutsche Nationalstiftung, Member of the Senate[14]
  • Peace of Westphalia Prize, Member of the Jury[15]
  • Bayer Foundation for German and International Labor and Business Law, Member of the Board of Trustees (1998-2002)
  • KfW, Member of the Supervisory Board (2003-2004)[16]
  • Ludwig Erhard Foundation, Member (1998-2005)

Personal life

Friedrich Merz is married to the judge Charlotte Merz. He has three children and resides in Arnsberg in the Sauerland region. In 2005, the couple established the Friedrich und Charlotte Merz Stiftung, a foundation supporting projects in the education sector.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Profile at Mayer Brown
  2. ↑ Riedel, Donata (December 23, 2004), "Nicht süchtig nach Politik: Friedrich Merz", Handelsblatt .
  3. ↑ Wahlkampf: Stoiber-Team ohne Kompetenz bei den Staatsfinanzen Spiegel Online, January 22, 2002.
  4. ↑ Ministerpräsident Armin Laschet beruft Friedrich Merz zum Beauftragten für die Folgen des Brexits und die transatlantischen Beziehungen Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, press release of November 7, 2017.
  5. ↑ Eyk Henning (January 17, 2016), BlackRock Hires Former Merkel Deputy for Its German Operations Wall Street Journal.
  6. ↑ Wechsel im Aufsichtsratsvorsitz der AXA Konzern AG AXA Konzern AG, press release of July 24, 2007.
  7. ↑ Merz im Verwaltungsrat der Schweizer Stadler Rail Group Handelsblatt, March 28, 2006.
  8. ↑ 2010 Annual Report Interseroh.
  9. ↑ Jack Ewing (February 16, 2011), For Germany’s Banks, a Grim Future New York Times.
  10. ↑ Rainer Kellers (March 23, 2012), Merz soll Wirtschaftskompetenz zeigen: Der "alte Freund" und das Nicht-Comeback Westdeutscher Rundfunk.
  11. ↑ Ordentliche Mitglieder der 15. Bundesversammlung Bundestag.
  12. ↑ Christian Wernicke (November 7, 2017), Regierungsjob für Friedrich Merz Süddeutsche Zeitung.
  13. ↑ Ministerpräsident Armin Laschet beruft Friedrich Merz zum Beauftragten für die Folgen des Brexits und die transatlantischen Beziehungen Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, press release of November 7, 2017.
  14. ↑ Senate, Deutsche Nationalstiftung.
  15. ↑ Members of the Jury Wirtschaftliche Gesellschaft für Westfalen und Lippe.
  16. ↑ 2004 Annual Report KfW.
  17. ↑ About Friedrich und Charlotte Merz Stiftung.
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