German Economy Minister fires close aide in nepotism scandal

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German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has fired one of his closest aides over a nepotism scandal that hurt his Green party, cast a shadow over his climate agenda and severely damaged his standing with the German public.

The departure of Patrick Graichen as state secretary in the ministry of economics is a major blow for Habeck, one of the Germanyof leading politicians who has long been seen as a potential chancellor. Habeck had relied heavily on Graichen to carry out the coalition government’s green energy revolution.

Habeck said he was forced to act after an internal investigation revealed Graichen had violated his compliance procedures.

Late last year, she approved a decision to grant government funds to BUND Berlin, an environmental organization where her sister served as executive director.

“It’s one mistake too many” Habeck he told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday. He said he was forced to act “to protect trust in the work of this ministry as an institution”.

Graichen said in a tweet that the challenges Germany has been facing “are too great to be further obscured by debates about myself and my family.” “Our ability to act politically to promote the energy revolution and protect the climate must be preserved.”

Julia Klöckner, MP for the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), criticized what she called a “systemic problem” in Habeck’s ministry, “a result of the close relations between green members of government, climate activists, lobbyists and institutes” .

The revelation about the BUND Berlin grant comes on top of a scandal involving Graichen’s role at Dena, the German energy agency. He took part in the selection process for Dena’s new boss, but did not reveal that Michael Schäfer, who was tapped for the job in March, was a close friend and best man at his wedding.

Graichen later admitted his mistake, Schäfer stepped aside and the selection process was restarted. But that failed to end the controversy, with the CDU asking Habeck to fire Graichen.

MPs also raised questions about the dense web of personal and family relationships linking Habeck’s ministry with climate-related think tanks.

Michael Kellner, parliamentary state secretary in the economy ministry and another close ally of Habeck, is married to the sister of Graichen Verena, who works for the Öko-Institut, an independent environmental research center that receives contracts from the ministry of economics. economy. Graichen’s brother Jakob also works at the Öko-Institut.

Even before the nepotism scandal, Habeck was under political pressure over a controversial law sponsored by his ministry that aims to phase out gas boilers and replace them with heat pumps. Critics say he places too great a financial burden on homeowners.

Habeck had initially stood by Graichen. THE two were grilled by two Bundestag committees last week on the Dena affair, and later Habeck said he had “decided that Patrick Graichen must not go because of this mistake”.

But he changed his mind after an internal investigation at the economy ministry revealed further compliance issues involving Graichen.

Habeck said this concerned a call for applications under Germany’s national climate protection initiative. In November last year, Graichen had, he said, approved a list of three projects for funding, one from the Berlin branch of the BUND, which had requested around 600,000 euros.

No money had been awarded to the organization, but Graichen had designated the project as “eligible for funding,” meaning the decision to award a grant was a “mere formality,” Habeck said.

Graichen’s sister was a member of the executive board of BUND Berlin and had been chairman until May 2022. This meant that Graichen’s decision to approve the project “violated the [ministry’s] code of compliance,” he said.

“Even the slightest semblance of prejudice must be avoided, and this [principle] it hasn’t been observed here,” he said.

Habeck said he defended Graichen in the Dena affair, but to do so he had to be sure the “compliance firewall that has been erected because of these family relationships is not cracked. These cracks have now appeared.”

He said Graichen had made himself “too vulnerable to do his job effectively”.

Habeck thanked his secretary of state for his service, saying he had “achieved a lot for his country”, saved Germany from a gas shortage last year and helped avert an economic crisis.