The picture combo shows the future federal government: top row (lr) Annalena Baerbock, (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) designated Foreign Minister, Anne Spiegel, (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) designated Federal Minister for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, Cem Özdemir, ( Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) designated Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Steffi Lemke, (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) designated Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Volker Wissing, (FDP) designated Federal Minister for Transport and Digital, Marco Buschmann , (FDP) designated Federal Minister of Justice; Middle row (lr) Robert Habeck, (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) designated Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Karl Lauterbach (SPD), designated Federal Minister for Health, Olaf Scholz (SPD), designated Federal Chancellor, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, (FDP) designated Federal Minister for Education and Research,
Christian Lindner, (FDP) designated Federal Minister for Finance; Lower row (lr) Wolfgang Schmidt (SPD), designated head of the Federal Chancellery, Nancy Faeser (SPD), designated Federal Minister of the Interior, Christine Lambrecht (SPD), designated Federal Minister of Defense, Klara Geywitz (SPD), designated Federal Minister for Building and Housing , Hubertus Heil (SPD), designated Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs, and Svenja Schulze (SPD), designated Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(Photo: dpa)
It will be an exciting four years ahead of the Federal Republic. At least the faces of the new federal government do not awaken the Ennui who came up when Merkel’s last cabinet was presented four years ago.
With Hubertus Heil as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, only one head of department will keep his post in the traffic light. Otherwise: a new beginning wherever you look – in terms of personnel and content.
You can look forward to this new beginning, where experience supports you. The tandem of Olaf Scholz and his chief of staff Wolfgang Schmidt has proven itself in the Hamburg City Hall as well as in the Ministry of Finance. As Federal Chancellor or Head of the Chancellery, the two should have at least the administrative side of their new tasks under control from day one.
Robert Habeck, Vice Chancellor, can also be optimistic: As Minister of Energy, Agriculture and Environment in Schleswig-Holstein, Habeck was able to mediate between the interests of entrepreneurs and nature conservationists with great skill.
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If anyone can succeed as Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Change the (at least in the short term) contradicting requirements of decarbonization and economic growth, it is the discourse professional Habeck.
Liberal impulses in the reality check
Christian Lindner, on the other hand, moves into the Ministry of Finance without a ministerial biography, but with plenty of leadership experience from party and parliamentary groups. For him, the question will rather be: Can he set liberal impulses at the head of a department that will be under pressure in the coming years to spend more and even more money – for the energy transition, for the social coffers that are getting out of hand? , NATO’s two percent target and, and, and …?
Annalena Baerbock at the head of the Federal Foreign Office is facing a similar reality check: Her declared claim to confidently defend Western values against the autocrats in Moscow and Beijing is worthy of all honor. But gas deliveries from Russia and exports to China are also important for Germany.
Karl Lauterbach’s appointment as Minister of Health belongs in the “courageous experiment” category. Yes, he is a doctor and a certified health expert. But especially in the corona crisis, it is not enough to make a decision based on epidemiological studies.
Science takes note of good pandemic policy, but always weighs its findings against freedom rights, economic consequences and political feasibility. He can and must now prove that Lauterbach can manage this balancing act. And it is something completely different to call for a resolute corona policy on talk shows – or to actually implement it through the clay layers of the health bureaucracy.
But Nancy Faeser has the greatest test ahead of her. Nancy who? Exactly. The SPD parliamentary group leader in the Hessian state parliament is considered a political talent. The fact that she will be given the Ministry of the Interior without any government experience and thus responsibility for the federal police and counter-terrorism means a huge leap in her career. For Faeser, what many of the new ministers will benefit from applies: it just has to be better than its predecessor.
More: Karl Lauterbach – what is in store for Scholz’s “most important crisis manager”