Carsten Schneider (born 23 January 1976) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) who has been serving as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Climate Protection and Nuclear Safety in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...

since 2025. Schneider has been a member of the German

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. From 2017 until 2021, Schneider was the First Secretary of his party's parliamentary group, in this position assisting the group's successive chairs

Andrea Nahles Andrea Maria Nahles (born 20 June 1970) is a former German politician who has been the director of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) since 2022. Nahles is best known for having served as leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from April ...

(2017–2019) and

Rolf Mützenich Rolf Heinrich Mützenich (born 25 June 1959) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who served as leader of the SPD group in the Bundestag from June 2019 until February 2025 Early life and education Mützenich was ...

(2019–2021). In addition to his parliamentary work, he served as

Parliamentary State Secretary A Parliamentary State Secretary (') is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a Minister with running a government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations us ...

for East Germany and Equivalent Living Conditions in

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

's cabinet from 2021 to 2025.

Early life

After graduating from Wilhelm-Häßler-Gymnasium in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, and completing his

alternative civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious o ...

, Schneider accepted a position at an Erfurt

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...

in 1998. Schneider has been married since 2003 and has two daughters.

Political career

Schneider joined the SPD in 1995. He became active in

Young Socialists in the SPD ''Working Group of'' Young Socialists ''in the SPD'' (, Jusos) is a volunteer youth organisation, youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As of 2025, there are over 50,000 official Juso members. Membership Every ...

and eventually was elected chairman of the Thuringian chapter. Until 2017, he also belonged to the leadership of the SPD in Thuringia. In the 1998 federal elections, at age 22, Schneider became the then-youngest representative in the German Parliament, representing

from 1998 to

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and the successor constituency of

Erfurt – Weimar – Weimarer Land II Erfurt – Weimar – Weimarer Land II is an electoral constituency (German language, German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is ...

since 2005. He was a member of the Budget Committee, where he served as his parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on the budgets of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Office of the Federal President. He is also a member of the Thuringian SPD parliamentary caucus, of which he became speaker in 2005. From 2008 to 2010, Schneider was a member of the parliamentary body providing oversight of the Special Financial Market Stabilization Funds (SoFFin). In 2012, Schneider was selected as one of three speakers of the Seeheim Circle. In the negotiations to form a ''

Grand Coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

'' of the Christian Democrats ( CDU together with the Bavarian

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

) and the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

(SPD) following the 2013 federal elections, Schneider was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on financial policies and the national budget, led by

Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; 18 September 1942 – 26 December 2023) was a German politician whose political career spanned more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was the longest-serving member of any democratic G ...

and

. He had previously publicly expressed his doubts about the Social Democrats joining a coalition government with the CDU/CSU, having preferred a coalition with the center-left

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

. Following the formation of the third cabinet of Federal Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

, Schneider served as deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group under the leadership of

Thomas Oppermann Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann (27 April 195425 October 2020) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he serv ...

. He was also the chairman of the so-called ''Confidential Committee'' (''Vertrauensgremium'') of the Budget Committee, which provides budgetary supervision for Germany's three intelligence services, BND, BfV and MAD. In addition, Schneider has been a delegate to the Conference established under Article 13 of the

European Fiscal Compact The Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union; also referred to as TSCG, or more plainly the Fiscal Stability Treaty is an intergovernmental treaty introduced as a new stricter version of the Stability ...

since 2014; this body assembles members of the relevant committees of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and national parliaments to discuss economic and fiscal policy and other matters concerning stability, coordination and governance in the

Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union The economic and monetary union (EMU) of the European Union is a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union at three stages. There are three stages of the EMU, each of which consists of progressi ...

. Following the 2017 election, Schneider succeeded Christine Lambrecht as First Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group, in this position assisting the group's chairwoman

. In this capacity, he was also a member of the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation. Ahead of the 2021 elections, Schneider was elected to lead the SPD campaign in Thuringia for the fourth consecutive time. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...

of the SPD, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and the FDP following the elections, he led his party's delegation in the working group on economic policy; his co-chairs from the other parties were

Cem Özdemir Cem Özdemir (; ; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician who served as Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany), Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the Scholz cabinet, cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz from 2021 to 202 ...

and

Michael Theurer Michael Theurer (born 12 January 1967) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg from 2017 to 2024. From 2009 until 2017, he was a Member of the Europe ...

Other activities

In addition to his political work, Schneider holds a number of paid and unpaid positions.

Corporate boards

* Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI), Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2022) * KfW, Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (since 2010) * Association of Sparda Banks, Member of the Advisory Board * CNC Communications & Network Consulting, Member of the Board of Experts (since 2009) * Stadtwerke Erfurt, Member of the Supervisory Board (2002-2006)

Non-profit organizations

Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship (, alternatively translated as "(Federal) Foundation for the Study of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany") is a government-funded organisation established in 1998 by the German ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022) *

Fraunhofer Society The Fraunhofer Society () is a German publicly-owned research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max Planck Society, which works primarily on Basic re ...

, Member of the Senate * Friends of the Bauhaus Museum, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Federal Financial Supervisory Authority The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (), better known by its abbreviation BaFin, is Germany's integrated financial regulatory authority. Since 2014, it has been Germany's national competent authority within European Banking Supervision. ...

(BaFin), Alternate Member of the Administrative Council * German-Brazilian Society (DBG), Member of the Board of Trustees (2013-2014) Since 2001, Schneider has acted as chairman for “Erfurt Runs” (Erfurt rennt) a relay race around the

Erfurt Cathedral Erfurt Cathedral (, officially ''Hohe Domkirche St. Marien zu Erfurt'', English: Cathedral Church of St Mary at Erfurt), also known as St Mary's Cathedral, is the largest and oldest church building in the Thuringian city of Erfurt, ...

to support tolerance and inclusion. He is also a member of the board of trustees for the

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

-based Community-Mindedness Campaign.

Political positions

Eurozone crisis management

Schneider has been critical of Chancellor Angela Merkel and her policy of

bailout A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global syst ...

s for

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. In August 2011, he publicly criticized Labor Minister

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...

for demanding collateral from euro-area members needing financial aid. Schneider also criticized a possible bailout that would not punish foreign tax evaders storing their money in Cypriot banks. In April 2013, he helped build support among the SPD parliamentary group for the incumbent center-right government's move to contribute to a 10 billion euros international bailout of

that included losses for uninsured depositors in two of the island's banks. In 2011, Schneider and his counterpart Norbert Barthle from the Conservative CDU urged

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to consider selling some of its gold reserves to ease debt woes and therefore reduce the cost to German taxpayers of bailing it out.

Banking sector

In an opinion piece for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', he expressed doubt in Merkel and the

CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties ( ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian democratic and conservative political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social U ...

coalition's plan to begin to recapitalize banks involved in

European sovereign-debt crisis The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The ...

, saying: :"A supervisory institution without the authority to wind up failing banks is, in effect, a guarantee of survival for big banks. The ESM would strengthen their capacity to blackmail the public." In 2011, Schneider advocated a salary cap of 500,000 euros ($692,400) and a higher tax on bonus payments for bankers whose companies may need government help. On the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

’s 2014 proposal for a structural reform of the EU banking sector, Schneider criticized the measures as insufficient and held that "separating certain risky business, such as credit to hedge funds, from banks' core business is a central lesson from the financial crisis".Matthias Sobolewski (9 September 2014)
Germany says won't delay plans to isolate risky bank business
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''.

Personal life

Schneider has been married since 2004. The couple has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Carsten Politicians from Erfurt Living people 1976 births Members of the Bundestag for Thuringia Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029