Norbert Walter-Borjans

Norbert Walter-Borjans (born 17 September 1952) is a German economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as co-leader of the SPD (alongside Saskia Esken) from 2019 to 2021. He served as State Minister of Finance of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 until 2017.

Norbert Walter-Borjans
Walter-Borjans in 2022
Leader of the
Social Democratic Party
In office
6 December 2019 – 11 December 2021
Serving with Saskia Esken
General SecretaryLars Klingbeil
Deputy
Preceded byMalu Dreyer (acting)
Succeeded byLars Klingbeil
Minister of Finance of
North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
14 July 2010 – 27 June 2017
Minister-President
Preceded byHelmut Linssen
Succeeded byLutz Lienenkämper
Member of the Bundesrat
for North Rhine-Westphalia
In office
15 July 2010 – 27 June 2017
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded bymulti-member district
Personal details
Born (1952-09-17) 17 September 1952
Krefeld-Uerdingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany (now Germany)
Political partySocial Democratic Party (1983–)
ResidenceCologne-Sülz
Alma materUniversity of Bonn
University of Cologne
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Economist
  • Civil Servant
Signature
Walter-Borjans in 2018

Early life and education

The son of a carpenter,[1] Walter-Borjans was born 1952 in the West German city of Krefeld and studied economics at the University of Bonn and reached a PhD.[2]

Political career

From 1991 until 1998, Walter-Borjans worked as spokesperson of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia, then led by Minister-President Johannes Rau.

From 2010 to 2017 Walter-Borjans served as State Minister of Finance of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the government of Minister-President Hannelore Kraft. In this capacity, he was one of the state's representatives in the Bundesrat, where he served on the Finance Committee. During his time in office, the state government – as main shareholder –, the German government and Helaba agreed to divide up the asset of ailing WestLB and cover any losses during the winding-down process.[3] On Walter-Borjans's initiative, the state government on several occasions resorted to buying Swiss account data from whistle-blowers to pursue German tax dodgers.[4]

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Walter-Borjans was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on financial policies and the national budget, led by Wolfgang Schäuble and Olaf Scholz.

Together with Saskia Esken, Walter-Borjans announced his candidacy for the 2019 Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership election;[5][6] the duo was soon endorsed by the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia, the party's largest chapter, and its chairman Sebastian Hartmann.[7] as well as the SPD youth organization and its leader Kevin Kühnert, which account for some 80,000 of the 430,000 SPD members.[8] The November 2019 run-off was won by Esken and Walter-Borjans.[9]

Walter-Borjans was nominated by his party as delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2022.[10]

Other activities

Corporate boards
  • NRW.BANK, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2012–2017)[11]
  • Portigon, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2012–2017)[12]
  • RAG AG, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2012–2017)[13]
  • KfW, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (2010–2017)[14]

Non-profit organizations
  • Deutschlandradio, Member of the Broadcasting Council (2012–2017)[15]
  • Verkehrsclub Deutschland, Founding Member

References
  1. Madeline Chambers (19 November 2019), German 'Robin Hood' eyes top SPD job, new deal on Merkel coalition Reuters.
  2. "Steuerhinterziehung: Interview mit NRW-Finanzminister Walter-Borjans – Spiegel Online". Der Spiegel. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  3. James Wilson (24 June 2012), Regulators on alert over WestLB assets disposal Financial Times.
  4. David Jolly (23 November 2012), German Lawmakers Reject Swiss Tax Deal New York Times.
  5. "SPD: Norbert Walter-Borjans und Saskia Esken wollen Partei-Vorsitzende werden – Spiegel Online". Der Spiegel. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  6. Madeline Chambers (4 September 2019), German Social Democrats start "speed-dating" for aspiring leaders Reuters.
  7. Rennen um SPD-Vorsitz – NRW-Vorstand nominiert Walter-Borjans ZDF, 30 August 2019.
  8. "The self-destruction of the German Social-Democrats".
  9. Braun, Stefan (30 November 2019). "SPD-Basis entscheidet sich für das ganz große Experiment". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  10. Drucksache 17/16063: Ergebnis der Wahl der Mitglieder zur 17. Bundesversammlung State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.
  11. Wilfried Goebels (12 November 2012), Finanzminister Walter-Borjans ist Multifunktionär in Aufsichtsräten General-Anzeiger.
  12. Matthias Inverardi (3 November 2016), WestLB successor Portigon searched by prosecutors in tax probe Reuters.
  13. Wilfried Goebels (12 November 2012), Finanzminister Walter-Borjans ist Multifunktionär in Aufsichtsräten General-Anzeiger.
  14. 2010 Annual Report KfW.
  15. Wilfried Goebels (12 November 2012), Finanzminister Walter-Borjans ist Multifunktionär in Aufsichtsräten General-Anzeiger.
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