Head of “Agenda 2010” – Former German Economy Minister Wolfang Clement dies – News

• Former Federal Minister for the Economy and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Wolfgang Clement, has died.
• The 80-year-old man died peacefully in his bed at his home in Bonn early Sunday morning, the German press agency learned from his family.
• As super minister of Gerhard Schröder, Clement implemented the Hartz reforms. In doing so, he secured boom years for the German economy, but deprived the SPD of part of its regular electorate.

Wolfang Clement was Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1998 to 2002, and from 2002 to 2005 he was Federal Minister for Labor and the Economy.

Former colleagues of Clements praised him as a liberal social person who had campaigned for social advancement, work, and growth throughout his life.

The 2010 reform agenda, which Clement helped implement as super minister, is now considered an outstanding political achievement – it brought the boom years of the German economy.

From comrade to liberal

At the same time, however, Clement lost his party’s support because he deprived them of part of his regular electorate with cuts in the social sector.

Participation in the implementation of the reform agenda was the beginning of a long distancing that eventually led the uneasy comrade to leave the party in 2008. In the following years, Clement campaigned for the FDP on several occasions.

Clement suffered from lung cancer and died at the age of 80.