Olav Gutting (born 14 October 1970) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2002.
Early life and education Gutting was born 1970 in the West German town of Bruchsal and studied jurisprudence at the University of Mannheim.
Political career In 2001 Gutting entered the CDU and became already in 2002 nominee of his party in the electoral ward of Bruchsal – Schwetzingen. He has been a member of the Bundestag since the 2002 elections, representing Bruchsal – Schwetzingen.
In parliament, Gutting has been serving on the Finance Committee. In this capacity, he is his parliamentary group’s rapporteur on the so-called solidarity surcharge ( or ).Christian Ramthun (1 February 2022), Union erhöht den Druck: Das Soli-Problem des Christian Lindner Wirtschaftswoche.
Within the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Gutting has been part of the leadership since 2013, under successive chairmen Volker Kauder (2013-2018) and Ralph Brinkhaus (since 2018). He was one of the MPs who voted for Brinkhaus to oust Kauder in 2018.Guy Chazan (September 26, 2018), Merkel’s loss of right-hand man represents unprecedented revolt Financial Times. Later that year, he ran for the post of deputy chairman but lost against Andreas Jung.Beate Tenfelde (October 9, 2018), Wieder eine Kampfkandidatur: Ein Hauch von Anarchie in der CDU Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.Andreas Jung zum neuen Unionsfraktions-Vize gewählt Der Spiegel, October 9, 2018.
In March 2021, Gutting was among the members of the Union parliamentary group who were accused of lobbying on behalf of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.
Other activities Nuclear Waste Disposal Fund (KENFO), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022)Governance Nuclear Waste Disposal Fund (KENFO). KfW, Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (since 2019)2018 Annual Report: Report of the Board of Supervisory Directors KfW. German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2022)Political Advisory Board German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW).
Political positions Within the CDU, Gutting is regarded as critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to enter into a coalition government with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) after the 2017 elections.Guy Chazan (February 7, 2018), German conservatives smart at coalition concessions Financial Times. In June 2017, he voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, June 30, 2017. In early 2020, he 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.„Liberal-konservativer Kreis“: Bundestagsabgeordnete bilden neues Forum Deutschlandfunk, January 4, 2020.
Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election, Gutting publicly endorsed in 2020 Friedrich Merz to succeed Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party's chair;Walter Serif (September 12, 2020), „Ich werde Merz wählen“ Mannheimer Morgen. he later also expressed support for a candidacy of Jens Spahn.Lukas Eberle, Florian Gathmann, Christoph Hickmann, Timo Lehmann, Veit Medick and Sabrina Winter (October 9, 2020), Kampf um CDU-Parteivorsitz: "Hinter Spahn können sich alle versammeln" Der Spiegel.
References