Fifty-two-year-old Katherina Reiche  was already seen by many in Germany as combative before she was unexpectedly appointed as Chancellor Friedrich Merz 's economic affairs minister in 2025. Environmentalists and climate activists have long regarded the politician from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as pro-business and pro-industry, and as an opponent of Germany's ambitious shift toward renewable energy. After serving in the Bundestag from 1998 to 2015, the politician from