Wolfgang Schaeuble received an unwanted birthday present this week, with discussions over his future as Germany's Finance chief occurring on the same day he turned 75.



Germany's Free Democrats (FDP) — a potential coalition partner with Schaeuble's Christian Democrats (CDU) after Sunday's general election — has said that it would want to be in charge of the Finance Ministry if it becomes part of the next government.

Traditionally, a smaller coalition partner in Germany picks a ministry more or less at their own will. This used to be the Foreign Ministry, as this job normally has a very high popularity for the incumbent and thus is said to be good for the party.

However, the FDP, the SPD (the Social Democratic Party of Germany) and also the Greens seem to have changed their thinking. There is a wide consensus that it was a mistake to have left the influential Finance Ministry to a man from the CDU.