Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel , born Kasner , the July 17th 1954 with Hamburg, is a political woman German member of the Union Christian Democrat (CDU). The November 22nd 2005, it is the eighth nobody since 1949 to have reached the station of federal chancellor. It is the first woman to occupy the station of Chancelier since the unification of the Germany in 1871.

Of 1991 with 1994, it was Minister federal for the Women and the Youth of the Cabinet Kohl IV, and of 1994 with 1998, Minister federal for the Environment, Protection of nature and the Nuclear security of the Cabinet Kohl V. Since 2000, it is president of CDU.

In 2006, it is classified like the most powerful woman of the world by the magazine Forbes, détrônant Condoleezza Rice. She is again n°1 of this classification in 2007.

Biography

Personal career

Angela Merkel is the girl of a Pasteur, Horst Kasner and of a Institutrice, Herlind Kasner. With the Fall 1954, the family leaves Hamburg for the German Democratic republic, because the first station of Kasner Horst was located at Quitzow, a small village close to Perleberg. Starting from 1957, Angela, its Markus little brother and his Irene little sister grew in the Templin Brandebourg eois.

Between 1977 and 1982, it was married with the Physicien Ulrich Merkel. They lived in an apartment with Berlin (Is). After its Divorce in 1982, it preserved the name of Merkel.

Angela Merkel remariée the December 30th 1998 with the Professor of Chimie Joachim Sauer. It does not have a child.

Formation and professional path

Of 1961 with 1971, it studies at the polytechnic school school of Templin. Thanks to its faculties with the Mathematical tops of the average in and foreign languages - she usually speaks the Russian and the English -, she obtained in 1973 its Abitur with 1, the maximum note.

Of 1973 with 1978, it makes studies of Physique to the Karl-Marx university of Leipzig. In 1978, it receives its diploma of end of studies in physics. It is allowed as collaborator at the central Institute of chemistry-physics of the Academy of Science of East Berlin. Under the direction of Lutz Zülicke, it prepares its thesis ( Calcul of the constants speed of the elementary reactions of the simple Hydrocarbure S ) and obtains the Doctorat of physics in 1986. After its studies, she works until in 1990 at the central Institute of chemistry-physics, as enquiring in the field of the Quantum physics.

Political career

Like the majority of the pupils of GDR, Merkel took part in the German free Jeunesses ( Freie Deutsche Jugend ). Thereafter, it was member of the circle of decision of the JLA, and secretary of the department for agitation and propaganda with the Academy of Science. In spite of the devotion of which it made proof for this movement, it made its confirmation, as it is of tradition in the practicing families of East Germany.

Angela Merkel collaborated in the movement Demokratischer Aufbruch only as from at the end of December 1989, before it did not belong to any the movements of opposition, even if in 1978, it had refused a proposal to work in the ministry for the Safety of State. In its file with the Stasi, political police of GDR, its positions against GDR and the Communisme were mentioned (“politico-ideological diversions”), and its support with the Polish trade union Solidarność . Its biographer, Gerd Langguth, say to us that many of his/her friends and its knowledge since 1970 and 1980 showed their irritation to see that it had finally entered to CDU, since some expected to see at it designs closer to those of the Greens. After the reunification, his/her mother militated with the SPD and one forever reported that his/her father was close to CDU. In December 1989, however, the question of the future political orientation of Demokratischer Aufbruch was still by no means distinct. Angela Merkel worked with the seat, in East Berlin, it worked out the leaflets and its position was all in all that of a press attaché.

In the beginning of the year 1990, the politicians of the West Germany took part in the first democratic election of the Room of the people which took place on March 18th, 1990. As a general secretary of CDU, Volker Rühe created on February 5th, 1990 the Electoral alliance for Germany ( Wahlbündnis Allianz für Deutschland ). Demokratischer Aufbruch , movement citizen which had been just based, occupied a key position: Helmut Kohl, the president of CDU and federal Chancellor, did not want to limit the block that he intended to constitute in the CDU of East Germany and the DSU, near of the CSU Western. In February 1990, Angela Merkel was authorized by the Academy of Science to enter the electoral competition for the political office of Demokratischer Aufbruch . A few days before the election, the collaboration of its president Wolfgang Schnur with Stasi was established. The care returned to Angela Merkel to direct the press conference during which the leaders expressed their consternation about what they had just learned.

After the last election with the Room of the people of GDR, in 1990, it becomes assistant spokesperson of the last government of GDR, directed by Lothar de Maizière. In August, because of fusion of DA with the CDU, it became member of the formation Christian Democrat of GDR. In December, she was elected in direct mandate with the Bundestag , in district 267. In the Cabinet Kohl IV, it was named Minister federal for the Women and Youth. She was also elected vice-president of the Bundestag . She is then elected Western president of the CDU of the Land of Mecklembourg-Poméranie of June 1993 at May 2000.

The November 17th 1994, it was named like successor of Klaus Töpfer with the ministry federal of the Environment, Protection of nature and the Nuclear security. Then at this station, it made stop the transport of Castor technology temporarily. Requests for resignation coming from the opposition, in particular of the Green , did not have consequences on its position. After the defeat at the polls of 1998, it had to yield its station to the green Jürgen Trittin.

In November 1998, she was proposed by the new federal president of CDU, Wolfgang Schäuble, for the position of secretary general of the party. She was elected shortly after by a vote of the party, and exerted this function until April 2000.

During the business of the financing of the party which touched Helmut Kohl, Angela Merkel was diverted of this one. She required party to start a new departure without Helmut Kohl. The November 8th 2001, then chief of the party, it however drew aside the possibility of a complaint against Helmut Kohl. At the time of the first five regional conferences, Merkel profits from the broad support of the base of CDU. April 10th, 2000, with the congress of Essen, she was elected for the succession of Wolfgang Schäuble with the presidency of CDU with close to 96 % of the voices.

With the congress of Düsseldorf of December 6th 2004, it was re-elected with the worst result which it obtained in a vote for this station in the party: 88,4%.

Its capacity was confirmed, after it had to leave its place for the election with the chancellery of 2002 with Edmund Stoiber (CSU), the president of the Land of Bavaria, when it was elected president of the parliamentary group CDU/CSU with the '' Bundestag '', for the succession of Friedrich Merz, with 93,7% of the voices. It thus became chief of the opposition.

To spring 2003, Merkel was opposed to the standpoint of its party, on the question of the third war of the Gulf. She declared that it was irresponsible to exclude “the military force as a last categorical means. She is and will remain a last means in any conflict, therefore in that one also”. To support the attitude of the the United States, it had envisaged a voyage to the USA. It cancelled a voyage envisaged before the elections of 2005.

In February 2004, it accomplished a three days stay in Turkey, in order to promote the model of “Privileged partnership” as an alternative to complete integration with the European Union.

At the beginning of 2004, Merkel decided in favor of the election of Horst Köhler with the federal Présidence, in an alliance of the CDU/CSU and FDP. Mr. Köhler was elected by the federal Assemblée.

May 30th, 2005, Merkel declared candidate with the chancellery, for the following elections with the '' Bundestag ''. The union CDU/CSU which it led carried out 35,2%, in front of the SPD with 34,2%, far behind the objective of absolute majority of the seats which it had set.

September 20th, during the first meeting of the parliamentary group of the Union since the poll, she was re-elected president of the group by 98,6% of the voices (219 votes out of 222). Despite everything, the German press affirmed that Merkel was under pressure, and this because of the refusal of Gerhard Schröder so that it becomes Chancelière federal in the great coalition. At the Bundestag, the SPD was the most important party but the sister parties of the CDU and CSU form one and single parliamentary group there, and this last is more important than the parliamentary group of SPD.

October 10th, 2005, after long and difficult negotiations, the SPD, the CDU/CSU concluded an agreement by which Angela Merkel was going to be elected Chancelière federal. November 12th, after five weeks of discussions, Merkel presented its coalition government.

November 22nd, with 397 votes out of 611 members of Parliament (202 against and 12 abstentions), Angela Merkel is the first woman elected at this station, it succeeds seven men. It obtained the greatest number of voices to the Bundestag of all the elections to the chancellery, although with 64,9 % of the voices, it is in lower part of the score of Kurt Georg Kiesinger which had obtained 68,5% and especially great coalition of 1966 which had obtained 90,1% of the seats. The great current coalition reaches 73% of the seats, that is to say 443.

To fifty and one years, Merkel is more the young graduate of the history of Germany to occupy this station.

Electoral constituency

With 41,3% of the votes cast, Angela Merkel is elected in the district N° 15, in Mecklembourg-Poméranie.

See also: Cabinet Merkel

Political positions

According to the political program suggested at the time of the election of 2005, Angela Merkel wishes to intensify the course of the committed reforms by Gerhard Schröder (SPD), in particular in the field of the job market. Some reforms of the red-green coalition however will be cancelled, as measurement Ich-AG subsidizing the recruiting of people to the unemployment, which was violently criticized.

Merkel wants to allow the recruiting of workers apart from the framework of the collective agreements.

She is opposed to the entry of Turkey in the European Union, preferring a kind of privileged partnership.

Merkel is against the independence of the Kosovo compared to the Serbia. During the negotiation of the statutes, Belgrade will have to take into account the interests of all.

It is in favor of a prolongation of the period preceding the stop by the production by nuclear energy, but it is opposed however to the revival civil nuclear programs.

Before even the election of 2005, Merkel expressed its intention not to apply all the radical tax reforms suggested by the professor Paul Kirchhof. However, she proposes a simplification of the tax system, and a reduction of the public expenditure. For example, she wishes to remove the tax reductions with the night-work and the private property. CDU until had now always refused such a measurement, when the red-green coalition was with the capacity.

Chancellery: foreign affairs

The France is the first destination abroad of Angela Merkel to the head of the chancellery. It went there the November 23rd, the shortly after its official nomination with Berlin, to meet there the president Jacques Chirac and the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. In her speech, Jacques Chirac insisted on the importance of the Franco-German axis within the European Union. Angela Merkel held with this first voyage, in order to show her fidelity in France, although she thinks of hardening the bonds of Germany, with the Central Europe and the Western Europe.

After the meeting with Jacques Chirac, it met the Européens leaders with Brussels, as well as the general secretary of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. The November 28th, it received its first guest, the president of the Namibia (old German colony), Hifikepunye Pohamba, which visited Berlin during five days. In its speech of the November 30th, she announced her objective to develop the German economy and of reduction of the Chômage.

Within the framework of a visit in Asia in August 2007, Angela Merkel had gone for the 2nd time in China and for the 1st time to the Japan. The August 27th 2007, with Beijing, the German chancelière met her counterpart Wen Jiabao. With this occasion, Mrs Merkel invited China to reinforce the commercial relations sino-Germanic, but also to comply with the rules of the game international in the fight against climate warming. The same day, it met also the president Hu Jintao, and declared after this interview: " I spoke about the human rights with the Chinese leaders. I especially insisted on the fact that with the next Olympic Games, the world would look at China of près". Its meeting, on September 23rd, 2007 with the 14 {{E}} Dalaï Lama in exile since 1959 watch its real concern on the question of the respect of the Human rights, since it is first leading German government to receive it with the Chancellery. ,

Work

Scientific publications

Berechnung von Hochdruck-Geschwindigkeitskonstanten für Zerfalls- und Rekombinationsreaktionen einfacher Kohlenwasserstoffmoleküle und - radikale ( Calculation of the constants speed in high pressure in the reactions of separation and recombination of the radicals and the simple molecules of hydrocarbons ), Angela Merkel, Ilka Böger, Hans Joachim Spangenberg, Lutz Zülicke, in Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie , 1982,263 (3), p. 449-460
Berechnung von Geschwindigkeitskonstanten für den C-H-Bindungsbruch im Methylradikal ( Calculation of the constants speed for the break of the Carbon-Hydrogen couple in methyls ), Angela Merkel, Lutz Zülicke, in Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie , 1985,266 (2), S. 353-361,
Nonempirical parameter estimate for the statistical adiabatic theory off unimolecular fragmentation carbon-hydrogen jump breaking in methyl , Angela Merkel, Lutz Zülicke, in Molecular Physics , 1987,60 (6), 1379-1393,
Evaluation off the spleen constant for the S_N2 reaction fluoromethane + hydride: methane + fluoride in the gas phase , Angela Merkel, Zdenek Havlas, Rudolf Zahradník, in Newspaper off American Chemical Society , 1988,110 (25), 8355-8359.

Political writings

Der Preis of Überlebens. Gedanken und Gespräche über zukünftige Aufgaben der Umweltpolitik. (" The cost of living. Thoughts and writings on the future stakes of the policy of the environnement") Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-4210-5113-5
Europa und die deutsche Einheit. Zehn Jahre Wiedervereinigung: Bilanz und Ausblick. (" Europe and the unit of Germany. Ten years after the reunification: Assessment and perspectives") Freiburg 2000, ISBN 3-451-20140-2

See too

Cabinet Merkel
List of the current leaders

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