Editing Guido Westerwelle (section)

==Political positions==
[[file:Guido Westerwelle World Economic Forum 2013.jpg|thumb|Westerwelle speaking at the [[World Economic Forum]], 2013]]

===On economic policy===
Westerwelle was a staunch supporter of the [[free-market economy|free market]] and proposed reforms to curtail the German [[welfare state]] and [[Deregulation|deregulate]] [[German labour law|German labor-law]]. In an interview in February 2003, Westerwelle described labor unions as a "plague on our country" and said union officials were "the pall bearers of the welfare state and of the prosperity in our country".<ref name="brinkmann">{{Cite web |last=Brinkmann |first=Hans |date=22 February 2003 |title=WESTERWELLE-Interview für die "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" |trans-title=Interview with Westerwelle for the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" |url=http://www.guido-westerwelle.de/?wc_c=395&wc_lkm=37&id=612 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719034316/http://www.guido-westerwelle.de/?wc_c=395&wc_lkm=37&id=612 |archive-date=19 July 2011 |access-date=19 September 2009 |language=de}}</ref> He called for substantial [[tax cuts]] and smaller government, in line with the general direction of his party.

===On sexual equality===
Westerwelle was a staunch campaigner for sexual equality.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">Matthew Day (16 August 2012), [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/9480292/German-foreign-and-finance-ministers-in-gay-couple-tax-row.html German foreign and finance ministers in gay couple tax row] ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.</ref> He long criticized German law's not giving complete adoption rights to gay couples. In 2012, he and finance minister [[Wolfgang Schäuble]] were at loggerheads after a high-court ruling demanded the government provide equal tax treatment to gay civil servants and armed forces members. In the German daily ''[[Bild]]'', Westerwelle said that if "[[Civil union|registered partnerships]] have the same responsibilities as married couples then they should have the same rights. It is not weakening marriage but ending discrimination. We do not live in the 1950s."<ref name="telegraph.co.uk" />

===On data-protection===
In 2001, Westerwelle was one of the first politicians to push for a [[biometric passport]].<ref name="Juli Zeh Book">{{Cite web |last=Zeh |first=Juli |date=21 August 2009 |title=Angriff auf die Freiheit |trans-title=Book Introduction |url=http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/0,1518,641899,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409071159/http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/0,1518,641899,00.html |archive-date=9 April 2010 |language=de |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
He opposed [[Google Street View]]'s automated photography of streetscapes, and stated "I will do all I can to prevent it".<ref>[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5910738,00.html German Foreign Minister joins criticism of Google's mapping program ]</ref> In 2013, he announced plans to launch an initiative at the [[United Nations General Assembly]] to agree an optional protocol to the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] that would give greater data protection to internet users.<ref>James Fontanella-Khan and Quentin Peel (15 July 2013), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ffc5550a-ed6d-11e2-8d7c-00144feabdc0.html EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding backs strict data privacy] ''[[Financial Times]]''.</ref>