2007 in Germany - Events

Events

• 1 January - Germany assumes presidency of the G8 for the year and presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months.
• 1 January - Value added tax is raised from 16% to 19%.
• 1 January - BenQ-Siemens in Munich declares insolvency.
• 5 January - Mounir El Motassadeq was sentenced in Hamburg to 15 years prison for his involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
• 8 January - Russian oil supplies to Germany, Poland, and Ukraine are cut for three days as part of the Russia-Belarus energy dispute.
• 18 January - Following in-party pressure, Edmund Stoiber announces his resignation as Minister-President of Bavaria and chairman of the CSU, effective on 30 September.
• 18 January - Hurricane Kyrill, the worst storm to hit Germany since 1999, kills 13 in Germany and at least 31 in the rest of Western Europe.
• 2 February - The federal parliament passes a reform in health insurance, making insurance compulsory for all German citizens.
• 9 March - The national retirement age is raised to 67.
• 9 March - War in Afghanistan: The federal parliament approves the deployment of Panavia Tornados to Afghanistan. Threats against Germany by Al-Qaeda soon follow.
• 25 March - In Berlin, 27 European ministers celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.
• 11 April - In Beirut, the trial begins for one of the Lebanese perpetrators of the 2006 German train bombing plot.
• 12 April - A Tornado fighter jet of the German air force (Luftwaffe) collides with a rock face in the Swiss Bernese Oberland. One pilot ejects to safety, one dies.
• 13 April - Günther Oettinger, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, creates controversy with his eulogy of predecessor Hans Filbinger. Oettinger describes Filbinger as an opponent of the Nazi regime, although Filbinger was a member of the Nazi party and his true role during the war is still disputed.
• 7 May - President Horst Köhler rejects a request to pardon Red Army Faction terrorist Christian Klar, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of banker Jürgen Ponto
• 13 May - State election in Bremen - The SPD and CDU, who have governed Bremen since 1995 in a grand coalition under Jens Böhrnsen (SPD), both suffer losses although the SPD remains the strongest party. The Left Party.PDS enjoy their first success in a western German state with enough votes to enter the Senate of Bremen. After two months of negotiations, a red-green alliance (SPD and Greens) is established.
• 14 May - The Stuttgart-based car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler sells its American daughter company Chrysler for 5500 million euros, ending a 10-year union. After the demerger, DaimlerChrysler is renamed to Daimler AG.
• 24 May - Cyclist Erik Zabel confesses to doping with EPO for at least one week during the 1996 Tour de France, only to stop due to the adverse effects of the drugs on his health. At this same press conference, Rolf Aldag also confesses to long-term EPO use.
• 1 June - The DAX exceeds 8000 points for the first time in eight years.
• 6–8 June - 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
• 16 June - The Left Party.PDS and the WASG fuse to form the Left Party.
• 21 December - Border controls with Germany's eastern neighbours are removed as the Czech Republic, Poland and seven other countries join the Schengen border-free zone. The only remaining German border with border controls is that with Switzerland.