Ministry of Economics: New allegations in personnel affairs around Habeck’s ministry

After the dismissal of energy expert Patrick Graichen, there are now allegations against another state secretary from Economics Minister Robert Habeck. According to research by “Business Insider”, Udo Philipp, who is responsible for startups, was involved in appointing a consultant in whose fund he had previously invested money. Even in the Graichen case, the last word could not yet have been spoken: The environmental economist has his doctoral thesis checked for plagiarism. Green politician Habeck is under pressure to quickly present a successor.

In the case of Philipp, as with Graichen, it is also about a possible mixing of private and professional life. As the ministry confirmed on Sunday, the state secretary was involved in appointing the “Young Digital Economy” Advisory Board. The appointment was made “by line submission,” it said. This means that Habeck signed a list of proposals from his own house. “As usual, the responsible official channel was involved, which includes State Secretary Philipp,” the ministry said.

According to “Business Insider” it is about Sebastian Böhmer, one of the founders of First Momentum Ventures, an investment fund in which Philipp also has money. In August 2022, Habeck appointed him to the “Young Digital Economy” advisory board, which advises the minister on growth conditions for startups, among other things. The advisory board only has an advisory function, the ministry said. The cooperation is honorary, the members decide independently on which topics they give opinions.

It remained unclear whether Philipp Habeck drew attention to the business connection between the two. The ministry said Philipp was invested in several funds – which he was allowed to do. However, this has no influence on the investment strategy of the fund or the business policy of the company.

Dismissal of State Secretary Graichen

Last week, Habeck had already separated from his State Secretary Graichen because he had not sufficiently separated private and professional matters. Now there are also allegations of plagiarism against the economist. He asked the University of Heidelberg to review his doctoral thesis, Graichen told the “Bild am Sonntag” on the suspicion of violating citation rules.

However, he rejected an accusation of plagiarism. The points at issue all came from the historical reference to the actual scientific core topic of the work entitled “Municipal energy policy and the environmental movement”. “In my opinion, the scientific core of the work is not affected by the criticism expressed,” argued Graichen.

Plagiarism expert Jochen Zenthöfer told the newspaper: “There are 30 plagiarism fragments, some of which consist of several sentences.” They came from two essays by the environmental sociologist Karl-Werner Brand. It is generally quoted, “but only in very few places, at least 30 references are missing”.

Is there a delay in the heating law?

Meanwhile, Habeck is under pressure to quickly present a successor to Graichen – also because otherwise there is a risk of a delay in the important heating law, for example. Different candidates are named in Berlin. It is considered likely that Habeck will stay away from the environment of the Öko-Institut this time. The close family and friendly connections around the research facility had become his undoing at Graichen.

The media are therefore speculating about an appointment by the head of the network agency, Klaus Müller, or by Kerstin Andreae, the general manager of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). Both, however, would tear big holes in their current functions. Names from Schleswig-Holstein, where Habeck was a minister until 2017, are also mentioned. According to his own statement, the Minister for Energy Transition and Climate Protection there, Tobias Goldschmidt, is not available. Ingrid Nestle, who was Secretary of State for Energy in Schleswig-Holstein Habeck, could also be involved.