Marco Buschmann (FDP) is the new Federal Minister of Justice and is 44 years old.
(Photo: dpa)
Marco Buschmann cautiously steps behind a dark desk and speaks about his priorities as the new Federal Minister of Justice: overcoming the corona crisis, the right balance of freedom and security, abolition of unprompted data retention, a right to encryption, the “new instrument of a community of responsibility” for diverse life plans, the digitization of the judiciary, digital company formation. “These are demanding tasks,” says the FDP politician. “This is an ambitious program.”
His address to take office takes exactly five minutes. Then the 44-year-old folds his hands. All the essentials have been said for him.
Some liberals followed the performance last Thursday with concern. There are no doubts in the FDP about the professional suitability of Buschmann. “But to package the content for non-lawyers is not necessarily his thing,” was heard.
But especially in the corona crisis with its restrictions on fundamental rights, a well communicated legal policy is essential. Perhaps the democratic constitutional state should even be felt as a “matter of the heart”. But Buschmann appears to be “instructive rather than emphatic”. He also tends to micromanage, which can be dangerous in a ministry.
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In the matter, Buschmann is considered a knowledgeable politician and astute analyst. The Gelsenkirchen native studied law in Bonn and later did his doctorate at the University of Cologne on property law of the European Union. He worked as a lawyer for the US law firm White & Case.
Close confidante of FDP boss Lindner
But Buschmann was drawn into politics. He joined the FDP at the age of 17, and at 32 he became a member of the Bundestag with a focus on legal policy. In 2013, he was the focus of a scandal over draft laws, which should also come from the pen of lawyers from White & Case.
In the phase of the extra-parliamentary opposition, Buschmann, as the FDP federal executive director, helped drive the reorientation of the party. In 2017 the avowed Catholic advanced to the position of parliamentary managing director of the FDP parliamentary group.
He is considered a close confidante of FDP boss and new Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and negotiated the traffic light coalition agreement. Buschmann is now in line with FDP federal justice ministers such as Thomas Dehler or Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger.
But Buschmann’s start is jerky. There was the unsuccessful TV appearance on corona politics, in which, as the Federal Minister-designate of Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU), he indignantly reprimanded: “Pull yourself by the belt!” No wonder that the opposition party CDU is now calling the new minister is an “excellent lawyer”, but urgently needs to work on his “tonality”.
There was the ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court on the “Federal Emergency Brake” – a defeat for Buschmann, who, together with 80 FDP MPs, including Lindner, had sued against the corona measures.
Gerhart Baum, former Federal Minister of the Interior and Grand Seigneur of the Liberals, nevertheless considers Buschmann to be “the right man in the right post”. The “indispensable element of civil rights” of the FDP was thus given new opportunities for action, Baum told the Handelsblatt. With his rejection of data retention, for example, Buschmann has demonstrated his sensitivity to the rule of law.
Spicy personality bypassed
“It is also part of the truth that Buschmann’s start was overshadowed by behavior worthy of criticism in the fight against the pandemic,” says Baum, however. The defeat in the matter of the federal emergency brake made that clear: “The threat and the constitutional situation were assessed incorrectly.” In the meantime, the FDP and Buschmann have corrected their position, which is to be welcomed.
“I urgently recommend that he make the freedom-destroying effects of the Internet an issue: the attacks on human dignity through massive amounts of personal data stored around the world,” warned the former Federal Minister of the Interior. The basic computer right decided by Karlsruhe must finally be implemented even more strongly in this country. “A right to encryption of communication is a first important step announced by Buschmann,” said Baum. “He shouldn’t stop there.”
However, Buschmann got around a spicy personality at the start. The minister receives from the Federal Chancellery the responsibilities for reducing bureaucracy, for better law-making and for the National Regulatory Control Council (NKR). Buschmann’s wife, also a lawyer, worked here, most recently as a speaker. But not anymore, as the NKR announced on request.
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