Germany’s economy minister rejects his right-hand man in the face of accusations of nepotism

Minister of Economy, green Robert Habeck, announced this Wednesday the dismissal of his controversial secretary of state for energy and right-hand man, Patrick Greichen, for nepotism and disregard for morally binding political norms. Greichen was in the spotlight for weeks and was the subject of criticism from the ruling tripartite parties themselves and the conservative opposition after it came to light that he had been nominated to be the head of the German Energy Agency (Dena) at the Ministry of Economy, Michael Schäfer, concealed that he was his godfather and one of his closest friends. When this detail was announced, Habeck and Greichen blamed the choice as a mistake and noted that the position will be given to someone else who has yet to be decided.

The German minister himself explained this Wednesday that the verification of other decisions that Greichen had previously made definitely led to his downfall. “It was one mistake too many”the head of the economy pointed out in a press release.

The the straw that broke the roador is it the agreement on November 30 by the already dismissed state secretary on three project drafts for the national climate protection initiative. One of the projects came from the environmental association BUND from Berlin, where his own sister was a member of the executive and whose president he was until May 2022. Greichen’s signature made the project worthy of public subsidies, especially aid in the value 600,000 euros, which have not yet been paid.

“That document should not have been presented to Patrick Greichen and he should not have signed it,” admitted the leader of the Greens, who pointed out that the mistakes committed by a high-ranking official “must be viewed in their entirety” and that it is necessary to preserve the “firewall” that in its service it presupposes moral norms of mandatory compliance.

“Overall, Patrick Greichen has made himself vulnerable enough to continue to be effective in his position,” Habeck admitted after revealing that he met what had been his right-hand man Tuesday night and mutually decided on their resignation and early retirementwhich must now be confirmed by Federal President Frank Walter Steinmeier.

“It was a far-reaching decision, a serious decision with far-reaching consequences for my ministry, difficult for me and very difficult for Patrick Greichen. But it’s about protecting confidence in this house as an institution and maintaining the ability to make political decisions,” added Robert Habeck, who tried so far defend with teeth and nails permanency of the expert in his position.

Even after he spoke with him a week ago before the parliamentary commissions for energy and economy and climate protection. “I have decided that Patrick Greichen must not leave,” Habeck said then after answering questions from deputies for two and a half hours.

In the meantime, it has come to light that Jakob and Verena Greichenbrothers of the former secretary of state, work for ecological institutes self-employed women who receive subsidies from the Federal Ministry of Economy and that the husband, michael waiter, He is the parliamentary state secretary.

reporting an attack

The minister was very affected by the loss of his most important collaborator and once again defended his work. Habeck acknowledged that the criticism against Greichen had a reason to exist, but he condemned it object of attack even by internet trolls of extreme right or Russian origin.

“Political debates cannot be born in this way,” said the minister, who praised the “great performance” of a senior official in his position. “Thanks to his immense work, he protected Germany from the situation of gas shortages and made a significant contribution to avoiding an economic crisis” resulting from the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “He initiated the energy transition and set climate protection as a task for the Government, something that I personally highly value,” he concluded.