The personnel policy of the Ministry of Economics is now to be clarified in the Bundestag. But even before Habeck’s questioning by the deputies, there is apparently a first personal consequence.
According to information from the “Bild” newspaper, Michael Schäfer is resigning from the top position at the German Energy Agency (Dena) because of his personal ties with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. According to the report, it was agreed that Schäfer would voluntarily withdraw from his contract and thus also waive financial compensation. However, Dena did not want to comment on this when asked and only referred to ongoing discussions.
Schäfer, who was supposed to take up the new post on June 15, is the best man of State Secretary for Economic Affairs Patrick Graichen, who in turn sat on the selection committee that Schäfer had proposed for the post. After this became public, the supervisory board of the federal company decided last Friday to re-advertise the position.
Position will be re-advertised
This should now happen in the coming days. That said the chairman of the supervisory board, the parliamentary secretary of state for economic affairs Stefan Wenzel (Greens), in the evening in Berlin at an event to bid farewell to the current managing director Andreas Kuhlmann. “It will also be advertised publicly in a few days and then everyone can apply again.”
“We have set up the selection committee more broadly, in terms of the number of people, but also in terms of anchoring it in the ministries,” said Wenzel. He hopes that a decision will be made “very early” and that it will be known before the summer break who will lead Dena in the future together with the other managing director Kristina Haverkamp. Schäfer should have taken office on June 15. Habeck will be questioned on Wednesday
Habeck is questioned in the Bundestag
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), who is to be questioned by members of the Bundestag on Wednesday, promised complete openness. “The effort, the approach and also, I would say, the reality is that we create transparency at every point,” stressed Habeck on Tuesday. “And that will certainly be done tomorrow in committee.”
Representatives of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag had insisted that Habeck and Graichen be questioned in both the Economic Committee and the Committee on Climate Protection and Energy. A joint hearing of both committees was also discussed in advance. In addition, there should be a current hour in the plenum on Wednesday afternoon.
Criticism is also sparked by other personal ties in Habeck’s ministry: Graichen’s sister, who is married to his fellow state secretary Michael Kellner, works at the Öko-Institut – a research institution that receives orders from the federal government. However, the ministry emphasizes that Kellner and Graichen were not involved in tenders for which the Öko-Institut could have applied.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
