Corona sequences: Spahn report: “Team ‘I'” and many risks

Former Minister of Health Jens Spahn has entered the protective mask procurement in a large scale in the Corona crisis, according to an investigation “against the Council of his specialist departments”. The decision of the CDU politician to master the procurement alone is still “considerable costs and risks”, according to the report by the special investigator Margaretha Sudhof. The Ministry of Health under today’s department head Nina Warken (CDU) distanced itself from the special report. Spahn is now head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

The Ministry of Health had only emailed the report that had been available for months at the beginning of this week with blackened passages to the chairman of the Bundestag’s budget committee. Sudhof was still used by Spahn’s successor Karl Lauterbach (SPD). Lauterbach and Warken did not publish the report at first. Warken’s reason: The report also affects ongoing court processes and contains personal data. Spahn now welcomed the publication because this enables an assessment. The approximately 170-page report is available to the German Press Agency in Berlin.

“To date, considerable costs and risks”

The special investigator, formerly State Secretary in several ministries, describes in the report “in a volume that had not been provided until then” after Spahn’s decision on the Corona protection mask procurement. Contracts worth more than 11.6 billion euros were concluded within a few weeks. Delivery contracts are mentioned as problematic without further negotiations at fixed, high prices. Due to significant delivery failures, much less budgetary means were actually used. However, there are budget risks from ongoing legal disputes of 2.3 billion – in addition to interest of just under to 1.4 billion euros.

The special investigator certified that the ministries and departments were responsible for “unimaginable beyond personal consideration”. But: “Many activities went to the limit of legal requirements, which in all of all questions raises questions.” Expertise, among other things, was ignored by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. When “Worst Case considerations” had come true, existing expertise in the federal government did not get any further, but continued to be familiar with external consultants and law firms.

No “needs -based control”

Spahn did not trust the “functioning federal administration” and the procurement authorities. So there was no “needs -based control” by the ministry. “As a result, the need stipulated in the crisis staff was obtained,” said the lawyer Sudhof, referring to the government’s crisis staff. “A lack of economic understanding and political ambition – according to the report” as in this case, can lead to the fact that not as a team “state”, but as a team “I” act “. Several media had reported parts of the report.

Sudhof writes that the team working in the BMG was “completely overwhelmed” when the Corona crisis was worn out in March 2020. So you have commissioned a consulting company – initially only to collect the data that has now been incurred. The procurement was then completely “outsourced” to the consultant.

Spahn “intervened personally”

“The subject level of the BMG (Federal Ministry of Health) tried to convince the Federal Minister that due to a lack of expertise and personnel, procurement should not be brought into the house, but should remain with the procurement authorities,” writes Sudhof. “However, this in vain. The then Federal Minister repeatedly intervened personally and used his contacts.”

Criticism of the new minister

Regardless of the criticism, Spahn said that he was glad that the report could now be read. “Above all, you can now evaluate this factually and professionally.” The Ministry of Health criticized the Sudhof report in a multi-page statement. Their statements are not adopted, according to the BMG paper that is presented to the Bundestag House Hall, which is available to the dpa.

Methodology and sources remained unclear that facts were sometimes “not underpinned by sources”. Individual statements are contradicted. Spahn should never have been asked. At the same time, the Ministry announces that it wants to create an organizational unit for further processing.

“As a party friend should be protected”

This Wednesday, Spahn and Waiting want to ask the questions in the budget committee. Spahn, said, since he knew, “why we decided what in difficult time, I am happy to answer questions”.

Greens and left -wing insist on further information. “The Minister of Health was supposed to end the political games and publish the mask report completely,” said left-wing household politician Dietmar Bartsch, looking at the blackening. According to the ministry, these were carried out for data protection and legal reasons. Bartsch told the dpa that the impression arises when a party friend should be protected. “This undermines confidence in politics as a whole.”

The Greens want to apply for a current hour entitled “Full Transparency and Enlightenment on the Masking Starts of Jens Spahn”. “Instead of lighting other fog candles, we need a comprehensive parliamentary education about the masking deals of Jens Spahn,” said the Parliamentary Managing Director Irene Mihalic of the dpa.