25 years in the Bundestag - Can deposit and "eco-Stalinist" - Former Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin steps down
He was trenchant, provocative and polarizing: with Jürgen Trittin 's retirement from politics, the Greens have lost one of their most prominent campaigners for environmental and climate protection, human rights, disarmament and against nuclear energy. He was often unpopular, never avoided controversy - but was also considered successful.
Jürgen Trittin: Forever Mr. Can Deposit
"Trittin is a tough guy," was the response from the business community, with whom the Green Party leader liked to clash. Particularly in the dispute over the deposit on cans, the then Federal Environment Minister was able to drive his opponents up the wall with his stubbornness. The one-way deposit introduced at the beginning of 2003 will probably remain associated with his name forever.
Born in Bremen in 1954, Trittin studied social sciences in Göttingen. He has remained associated with the city in the south of Lower Saxony to this day. Trittin has represented the Göttingen constituency in the Bundestag since 1998. He joined the Green Party in 1980. Five years later, he joined the Lower Saxony state parliament, where he was leader of the parliamentary group for a time.
Trittin gained his first government experience from 1990 to 1994 as Lower Saxony's Minister for Federal and European Affairs in the cabinet of the then Minister President Gerhard Schröder(SPD).
No fear of confrontation
When Schröder won the Bundestag elections for the SPD in 1998, Trittin was the first choice as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He remained in this post until the early federal elections in 2005, which sealed the end of the red-green coalition. Although Trittin was a convinced red-green, he also caused controversy within the coalition - be it with the mandatory deposit, wind energy, which was an even more controversial topic at the time than it is today, the nuclear phase-out, the eco-tax or emissions trading.
During his first term of office until 2002, Trittin had a cordial personal relationship with the then Minister of Economic Affairs, Werner Müller (SPD), despite all the conflicts of interest. This was no longer the case with his successor Wolfgang Clement (SPD).
Once a fundi, then a realist
His provocations included, for example, that in spring 2001 he described the then CDU General Secretary Laurenz Meyer as having "the mentality of a skinhead". Three years later, CSU state group leader Michael Glos returned the favor by calling Trittin an "eco-Stalinist". He was alluding to the minister's left-wing past. Trittin had long since moved from the fundamentalist wing of the Greens to the realpolitik camp.
From 2009 to 2013, he headed the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag. He later switched from environmental to foreign policy, was a member of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee from 2017 to 2021 and was most recently the foreign policy spokesperson for his parliamentary group. During the war in Ukraine, he supported tank deliveries to the country invaded by Russia earlier than others.
Trittin votes against nuclear power plant extension
The 69-year-old also remained uncomfortable in the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP. Last year, when the lifetimes of the last three German nuclear power plants were extended by a few months due to the uncertain energy supply, Trittin voted against this in the Bundestag. And he called plans by his party colleague Robert Habeck for an industrial electricity price "nonsense".
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- Jürgen Trittin, a prominent figure in the Green Party and a former Environment Minister in Germany, has represented the Göttingen constituency in the Bundestag since 1998.
- Born in Bremen, Trittin studied social sciences in Göttingen and has maintained a strong connection with the city in Lower Saxony.
- During his tenure as Lower Saxony's Minister for Federal and European Affairs from 1990 to 1994, he worked under the SPD's Minister President Gerhard Schröder.
- Trittin gained national recognition when Schröder's SPD won the Bundestag elections in 1998, with Trittin becoming the first choice as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety.
- With his unwavering stance on environmental protection, disarmament, and human rights, Trittin often found himself at odds with opponents, including in the controversial implementation of the one-way deposit in 2003.
- In his later years in the Bundestag, Trittin shifted his focus from environmental policy to foreign affairs, serving as the spokesperson for the Green parliamentary group before retiring from politics.
- Despite leaving politics, Trittin's influence continues to be felt, as evidenced by his vocal opposition to extending the lifetimes of Germany's nuclear power plants and his criticism of plans for an industrial electricity price.
Source: www.stern.de
