Günther Oettinger

Günther Hermann Oettinger (born 15 October 1953) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources from 2017 to 2019, as European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society from 2014 to 2016 and as European Commissioner for Energy from 2010 to 2014.

He is affiliated with the liberal-conservative European People's Party (EPP).

Oettinger embarked in politics as a member of the Junge Union, the youth organisation of the CDU; he was chairman of the organization in Baden-Württemberg from 1983 to 1989.

He worked in an accounting and tax consulting business, before being licensed in 1984 to practice law and worked in this sector until 1988.

Oettinger was elected as a Member of the State Parliament (Landtag) of Baden-Württemberg in 1984.

From 1991 to 2005 he was Leader of the CDU Parliamentary Group.

From 2001 to 2005 he served as Chairman of the CDU Party in Nordwürttemberg (North Württemberg), and has also been CDU Chairman of the Federal Committee for Media Politics.

Oettinger was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2004 and 2009.

He served as Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg between 2005 and 2010 and as chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg from 2005 until 2010.

Since 2021, Oettinger has served as president of the German private university EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht in Wiesbaden.

Oettinger was born to Hermann Oettinger in Stuttgart, who owned a tax accounting and enterprise consulting business.

He grew up in Ditzingen, and attended school at Gymnasium Korntal-Münchingen.

He studied law and Economics at the University of Tübingen.

In October 2004 the Minister President of Baden-Württemberg Erwin Teufel announced that he was to step down as Minister President and Chairman of the Baden-Württemberg CDU, effective 19 April 2005.

Oettinger was elected as his successor by CDU internal party pre-elections.

His referendum win – with 60.6 percent of the vote versus 39.4 percent for state Education Minister Annette Schavan – was widely seen at the time as a defeat for Teufel, who had promoted Schavan as his preferred successor.

On 29 April 2005, Oettinger became Chairman of the CDU in Baden-Württemberg, eight days after succeeding Teufel as Minister President.

In 2006 the CDU held onto their majority in the Baden-Württemberg state election; Oettinger was re-elected Minister President.

Oettinger headed a coalition regional government comprising CDU and FDP members.

Between 2007 and 2009, he served as co-chair (alongside Peter Struck) of the Second Commission on the modernization of the federal state (Föderalismuskommission II), which had been established to reform the division of powers between federal and state authorities in Germany.

Following the 2009 federal elections, Oettinger was part of the CDU/CSU team in the negotiations with the FDP on a coalition agreement; he joined the working group on economic affairs and energy policy, led by Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Rainer Brüderle.

On 24 October 2009, Angela Merkel's new centre-right coalition government chose Oettinger to be a Commissioner of the European Commission.

He took office on 10 February 2010, the same day he stepped down as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg.

In a leaked diplomatic cable from the United States Embassy entitled "Lame Duck German Governor Kicked Upstairs as New Energy Commissioner in Brussels," U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Germany, Greg Delawie notes: "Chancellor Angela Merkel nominated Baden-Wuerttemberg (BW) Minister President Guenther Oettinger as EU Energy Commissioner primarily to remove an unloved lame duck from an important CDU bastion".

Delawie's cable further states: "Oettinger is noted for a lackluster public speaking-style, and some commentators have asserted that Merkel, who has often stood out at EU meetings, wanted to appoint a German Commissioner who would not outshine her!"

In the Second Barroso Commission, Oettinger was allocated the Energy portfolio, which had just grown in importance after the Lisbon Treaty gave the EU complete authority in the area.

At his confirmation hearing before the European Parliament in 2010, Oettinger pledged to enforce the principle of solidarity on energy policy as enshrined in the EU's Lisbon Treaty so that no member state could be left disadvantaged.

He struck a chord with parliamentarians by basing his security of supply strategy equally on diversifying gas transportation routes from third countries and promoting indigenous renewable energy.

Asked about his stance on nuclear energy Oettinger said that although his country Germany sees nuclear as a bridging technology, he had no reservations against France's plans to build more nuclear capacity nor Austria's decision to abandon the technology altogether.

The first phase of Oettinger's term was dominated by the Nabucco pipeline debate, his many trips to Azerbaijan and the Caspian region as well as his negotiations with Russian energy company Gazprom.

Oettinger lobbied both for the Nabucco pipeline and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, arguing they will be needed in the medium-term as routes to help secure European gas supply.

The second phase began with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 and the resulting energy transition in Germany.

Oettinger advised that there should be no new taxes on energy within the EU, and current taxes should not be raised, if prices are to be kept competitive with rivals fuelled by cheaper shale gas in the US.

Throughout his time in office, Oettinger regularly made headlines for his comments on constituent EU member countries' economic situations.

In remarks published by German media in May 2013, he expressed doubts about France's economic recovery and said "too many in Europe still believe that everything will be fine."

France, he said, "is completely unprepared to do what’s necessary," while Italy, Bulgaria and Romania "are essentially ungovernable."

Oettinger has also repeatedly been in conflict with the German government.

In an interview with Die Welt in 2014, he criticized the German Federal Government's plan to allow longer-serving employees to retire at the age of 63 for the message this sent to cash-strapped peripheral eurozone states like Greece, Spain and Portugal.

In mid-2014, Oettinger led high-level talks in order to facilitate a deal under which Ukraine would pay Russia $3.1 billion amid a dispute over unpaid Russian gas bills and Russia would deliver the gas Ukraine needs for the winter.

Following the 2014 European elections, both governing parties in Germany – the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) – backed Oettinger to remain as the German EU Commissioner in the incoming European Commission.