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Axel Fischer

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Axel Fischer
Member of the Bundestag
In office
1998–2021
Personal details
Born (1966-05-05) 5 May 1966 (age 58)
Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
(now Germany)
CitizenshipGerman
Political partyCDU
Alma materUniversity of Karlsruhe

Axel Eduard Fischer (born 5 May 1966) is a German politician. He is a member of the CDU and has been a member of the German parliament from 1998 to October 2021, representing Karlsruhe-Land since 2002.

Early life and education

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From 1989 until 1995, Fischer studied mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe.

Political career

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In parliament, Fischer first served on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment from 1998 until 2009. Since the 2009 elections, he has been a member of the Budget Committee and the Audit Committee. In this capacity, he serves as rapporteur on the annual budget of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) and the Federal Employment Agency (BA). He is also a member of the German Parliament's Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends.

In addition to his committee assignments, Fischer was member of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from 2010 until 2018. In 2009 he succeeded Edward O'Hara as chairman of the Committee on Technology and Aerospace. He also served as rapporteur on Armenia from 2011 until 2014 (alongside John Prescott and later Alan Meale)[1][2] and on Ukraine in 2017.[3] From 2014 until 2018, he was one of the Assembly's vice-presidents.[4]

Following the 2017 German federal election, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group decided against including Fischer in its list of nominees for Germany's new 18 person-strong delegation to PACE; the decision has been linked in media reports to his alleged role in limiting PACE's efforts to hold the Azerbaijan government under Ilham Aliyev accountable for human rights abuses as well as possible corruption.[5][6][7][8]

In early 2020, Fischer co-founded an informal cross-party group of MPs from the CDU, CSU and FDP parties who opposed a potential coalition government between CDU/CSU and the Green Party.[9]

By March 2021, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group's leadership announced that Fischer would be replaced as chair of the Audit Committee.[10] He was succeeded by Carsten Körber.[11]

In October 2021, Fischer was not again candidate for Bundestag by 2021 German federal election[12]

Other activities

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Political positions

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In response to the Greek government-debt crisis, Fischer and Rüdiger Kruse proposed in 2015 that German holidaymakers whose holiday spending helps boost the Greek economy should be reimbursed 500 euros by the German state on their return, on condition that the hotel and restaurants they visited have paid their taxes.[13]

In June 2017, Fischer voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[14]

Controversy and Corruption charges

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In 2017, the Union parliamentary group withdrew Fischer's appointment to the new Bundestag delegation at the Council of Europe because of his implication in the "Caviar Diplomacy" corruption scandal in PACE.[15] 

In March 2021, Fischer became the subject of an investigation over allegations that he took payments for political activity in the interests of the Azerbaijani government.[16] On March 4, 2021, following a request from the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office, the German Bundestag lifted Fischer's parliamentary immunity.[17] Subsequently, the BKA conducted a search at his parliamentary office in relation to the public prosecutor's investigation, on the initial suspicion of corruption, into payments from the "Azerbaijani Laundromat" money-laundering scheme to active and former members of the Bundestag for lobbying activities to promote Azerbaijani interests at the Council of Europe.

In January 2024 German prosecutors brought bribery and corruption charges against Axel Fischer and Eduard Lintner (another CDU member implicated in the Azerbaijani laundromat).[18][19]

Personal life

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Fischer is married for the second time and has six children. His father is the former President of the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe Werner Fischer and one of his brothers is the swiss politician and pastor Lutz Fischer-Lamprecht

References

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  1. ^ Armenian Opposition Upset With PACE Official Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, January 17, 2012.
  2. ^ Co-rapporteurs make monitoring visit to Armenia Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), press release of June 13, 2014.
  3. ^ Rapporteur strongly condemns prison sentence for Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), press release of September 28, 2017.
  4. ^ Sabrina Pabst (April 7, 2014), 'Council of Europe must keep talking to Russia' Deutsche Welle.
  5. ^ Claudia von Salzen (June 30, 2017), Krach bei Deutschen im Europarat: Rücktritt von Delegationsleiter Axel Fischer gefordert Der Tagesspiegel.
  6. ^ Christina Neuhaus (October 13, 2017), Das Fähnlein der zwölf Aufrechten Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
  7. ^ Max Holscher (November 2, 2017), Verbindungen nach Aserbaidschan: Die Baku-Connection der CDU Der Spiegel.
  8. ^ Hugh Williamson (January 22, 2018), Germany Sends Positive Signal on Defending Rights in Europe Human Rights Watch.
  9. ^ „Liberal-konservativer Kreis“: Bundestagsabgeordnete bilden neues Forum Deutschlandfunk, January 4, 2020.
  10. ^ Nach Verdacht auf Bestechlichkeit: Karlsruher Axel E. Fischer soll Bundestagsposten abgeben Südwestrundfunk, March 17, 2021.
  11. ^ Daniel Streib (March 24, 2021), Wechsel im Bundestag: Carsten Körber folgt auf Axel E. Fischer an Ausschuss-Spitze Badische Neueste Nachrichten.
  12. ^ Axel E. Fischer: „Es gab gigantische Machtverschiebung vom Parlament zur Regierung“
  13. ^ Angelique Chrisafis (June 21, 2015), German tourists in Greece: 'everybody has been so kind – overfriendly, even' The Guardian.
  14. ^ Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, June 30, 2017.
  15. ^ "Europa und die Welt". Das Parlament (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  16. ^ Laurenz Gehrke (March 11, 2021), Another German conservative MP quits as scandals mount Politico Europe.
  17. ^ Müller, Volker. "Deutscher Bundestag - Bundestag hebt Immunität von Axel E. Fischer auf". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  18. ^ "Germany Indicts Two Ex-MPs for Bribery". www.occrp.org. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  19. ^ "Axel Fischer soll Geld aus Aserbaidschan erhalten haben: Früherer CDU-Abgeordneter wegen Korruption angeklagt". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
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