Frank Schäffler
Frank Schäffler (born 22 December 1968) is a German politician for the Free Democratic Party (Germany) (FDP) and member of the Bundestag.
Early life and career
Schäffler was born 1968 in the West German town of Schwäbisch Gmünd and studied business administration and achieved his PhD in 1996.[1] He later worked as an insurance salesman.[2]
Political career
Schäffler entered the liberal FDP in 1987 and was member of the Bundestag from 2005-2013.[3]
In 2011, Schäffler led a group of fellow eurosceptic MPs from the FDP who collected enough signatures to force a non-binding inner-party referendum on the question of whether the party should oppose the creation of the €500 billion European Stability Mechanism and instead take a much tougher line opposing bail-outs for debt-strapped members of the eurozone.[4] The referendum was widely seen as destabilizing the coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel amid the European debt crisis.[5] In the run-up to the vote, he became the target of attacks from the party’s leadership, including from foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and FDP Secretary General Christian Lindner, who described Schäffler as “Germany’s David Cameron”; Lindner subsequently resigned from his position.[6]
Other activities
Corporate boards
- Bitcoin Group SE, Member of the Supervisory Board (-2018)
Non-profit organizations
- Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), Member of the Administrative Council (since 2018)[7]
- Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBV), Member of the Advisory Board on Financial Markets
- Friedrich August von Hayek Foundation
Political positions
Schäffler is considered to be a libertarian.[8] He denies the scientific consensus about climate change.[9]
References
- ^ "Frank Schäffler | Libertäre Plattform". web.archive.org. 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
- ^ Erik Kirschbaum (September 28, 2011), Ostracised German euro rebel defends 'no' vote Reuters.
- ^ "Deutscher Bundestag - Frank Schäffler". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 2019-09-27.
- ^ Quentin Peel (December 14, 2011), German coalition party hit by resignation Financial Times.
- ^ German minister attacks eurosceptics in own ranks Reuters, October 28, 2011.
- ^ Quentin Peel (December 14, 2011), German coalition party hit by resignation Financial Times.
- ^ Administrative Council Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
- ^ Bohsem, Guido. "Zurück ins 19. Jahrhundert". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-09-27.
- ^ http://www.frankschaeffler.deich-bin-ein-klimaskeptiker/
