Transparency required: Minister of Economy Reiche under pressure!
Transparency required: Minister of Economy Reiche under pressure!
Deutschland - Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche has been exposed to sharp criticism since her appointment. The debates were primarily ignited by their company participations, which focused on the government in their appeal. As tagesschau.de , was the same as the CEO of the energy provider Westernergie, a subsidiary of E.On. Critics fear that she cannot act independently as a minister of energy, since her previous connections to energy sectors raise questions about possible conflicts of interest.
In the past, questions about rich company shares remained unrequited. At the end of May, the Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that it does not hold any shares in E.ON or other investments that could cause a conflict of interest. Group Vice -President Andreas Audretsch from the Greens, however, expressed dissatisfaction with this answer and demanded more transparency from Reiche. Further information showed that rich shares in a society that manages three plots of land and serves the family wealth management.
transparency and lobbyism
In addition, it turned out that rich options of the Swedish company Ingrid Capacity in the amount of around 3,000 euros, which are currently in the sale process. This company develops battery storage. Reiche has ended her commitment to Ingrid Capacity and has already signed the termination. According to the German Law, Federal Minister may not carry out secondary activity that could affect their neutrality. A central concern of LobbyControl is the lack of transparency in the financial participations of government members. In contrast to Bundestag members, ministers are not obliged to disclose their company participations. Timo Lange, spokesman for LobbyControl, criticizes this lack of disclosure obligations, since decisions of government members can have considerable influence on the value of their investments.
According to Lange, the lack of regulation that political decisions could also take into account personal financial interests.
criticism of the federal government
The international community has also expressed concerns about the inadequate regulations to avoid conflicts of interest. In particular, the group of states against corruption of the European Council (GRECO) requested binding notification obligations for ministers in 2020. Despite these international standards and the demands for more transparency, there have been no measures from the federal government to implement these requirements.
The CDU had already called for transparency about company participations in the last parliamentary term. There are special concerns with regard to possible participations by Minister Reiche of energy and gas companies, in particular because of their political views and suggestions for gas supply. The lack of clear rules is perceived as a weakening of democracy and trust in the integrity of the federal government.
The government is therefore faced with the challenge of increasing the transparency of its members and ensuring that conflicts of interest are clearly addressed in order to regain the trust of citizens and to meet international standards. Further information on the legal framework and the political debates can be found in the detailed report of the Bundesagen.
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| Ort | Deutschland |
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