page_title: Norbert Blüm
section_title: Political positions
hierarchical_section_title: Norbert Blüm / Political positions
caption_attribution_description: Blüm Abbildung: Blüm am Rednerpult vor Mikrofonen Plakatart: Kandidaten-/Personenplakat mit Porträt Objekt-Signatur: 10-009&#160;: 1101 Bestand: Landtagswahlplakate Nordrhein-Westfalen (10-009) GliederungBestand10-18: Landtagswahlplakate Nordrhein-Westfalen (10-009)&#160;» CDU Lizenz: KAS/ACDP 10-009&#160;: 1101 CC-BY-SA 3.0 DE
context_page_description: Norbert Blüm was a German politician who served as a federal legislator from North Rhine-Westphalia, chairman of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia, and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
  Blüm was the only cabinet member who served in his function for all sixteen years of Helmut Kohl's time as Chancellor of Germany. He served as a member of the Bundestag from 1972 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 2002. Blüm was part of the left wing of the conservative Christian Democratic Union.
context_section_description: Blüm adhered to Christian values and belonged to the left wing of the generally centre-right CDU. Blüm was strongly influenced by the Jesuit social philosopher Oswald von Nell-Breuning, one of the founders of the modern Catholic social teaching who lectured in Frankfurt. Nell-Breuning taught Blüm about the main three pillars "subsidiarity", "solidarity" and "charity".
  During his time in office, Blüm held out and pushed back against demands by fellow CDU politicians to raise the federal retirement age from 65 to 70.
  A popular quotation attributed to him is "Die Rente ist sicher" (loosely translated as: "Pensions are safe"), based on the governmental slogan he wielded in 1986: "Eins ist sicher: Die Rente" ("One thing is safe: pensions"). This quotation quickly gained notoriety in Germany and became a popular target for comedy, as well as a cynical reference that would be used by his opponents and critics for years to come.
  The politician was a fervent supporter of human rights. On a trip to Chile in 1987, he accused former dictator Augusto Pinochet of torture.
  Blüm once said that "politics is a struggle". "Whoever is in search of harmony must look for another profession. (...) But if you want to change something, you cannot please everybody."
  Core issues of his politics were social justice and the fight against unemployment. For Blüm, "the little people" were important, which is why he tried to prevent a division of society into rich and poor with his politics. He saw social peace threatened by the Agenda 2010 that was later passed by the German government.
  Blüm was an outspoken critic of Scientology. As a consequence, he was targeted by Scientology advocates, who would claim that the organization was a victim of religious discrimination in Germany.
  Despite his good relationship with Helmut Kohl, Blüm criticized his handling of the CDU donations scandal.
  After his departure from the Bundestag in 2002, he continued to comment on political issues publicly. Because of his criticism of Israel in the Middle East conflict, he was sometimes accused of antisemitism, which he rejected.
  In 2016, he criticised the CDU's refugee policy because of the cold-hearted discussion about refugees. During the refugee crisis, the former minister visited the Greek refugee camp Idomeni in 2016 and heavily criticized the EU's treatment of refugees ("This kind of brutality is unworthy of European culture"). Out of solidarity he slept one night in the refugee camp.
  In 2016 he opposed an unconditional basic income, on which Switzerland held a referendum at this time. It would be "unfair" and an "attempted escape from welfare state responsibility".
caption: Blüm (1990) giving a speech in the state election campaign of North Rhine-Westphalia
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