The Union in the Bundestag wants to summon State Secretary Patrick Graichen, who has come under pressure, to the Economic Committee next Wednesday. CDU MP Tilman Kuban told the German Press Agency: “The Ministry of Economics must be the guardian of the social market economy and must not give the impression of a green self-service shop.”
Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has always emphasized that he is committed to fighting any form of corruption and to promoting transparency, the economic politician continued. “We will continue to support him and help him to clarify what is happening in his ministry. I hope that Patrick Graichen will be able to clear up the allegations that are being made.”
New Dena boss was Graichen’s best man
Graichen had informed Habeck that the designated new managing director of the German Energy Agency (Dena), Michael Schäfer, was his best man. Graichen was a member of a selection committee that Schäfer had suggested for the post. Both Habeck and Graichen speak of a mistake.
Schäfer was supposed to take office on June 15. However, a new procedure for filling the post is becoming more and more likely. The Dena supervisory board chairman, the parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics Stefan Wenzel (Greens), wants to submit a draft resolution to the supervisory board that provides for a new edition of the selection process. A new advertisement for the position should also be proposed.
Other personal ties
FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki suggested that Habeck dismiss Graichen. “The fact that Patrick Graichen made his best man head of Dena without the knowledge of the minister would have inevitably resulted in his dismissal in other personal and family circumstances,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “The fact that Habeck doesn’t have the courage to draw conclusions makes him the target of political attacks.”
There is also criticism of personal ties in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Graichen’s sister, married to his colleague Michael Kellner, works like her brother at the Öko-Institut – a research institute that receives orders from the federal government.
