External employees in German federal ministries

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In addition to civil servants and employees, external employees have also been working in German federal ministries for several years . These are not classic freelancers who are financed by the authorities, but staff from the private sector, associations and interest groups who continue to be employees of their actual employer and who are paid by them and temporarily work in federal ministries . This is partly done as part of a staff exchange program that has been established since 2004, partly in forms that are referred to in publications by the Federal Government as “external staff”, “ posting ” and “ secondment ”. Observers see this as a new dimension of lobbying .

Personnel exchange program page change

The official staff exchange program page change (in publications of the German government as a staff exchange program "Public sector - private sector" hereinafter) was launched on 1 October 2004 and goes to the then Federal Minister of the Interior Otto Schily and the personnel director of Deutsche Bank AG, Tessen von Heydebreck back . In this context, the following goals are stated in publications by the Federal Government: “The existing boundaries between the sectors should be dismantled and knowledge transfer enabled.” And “Employees should get to know the processes and structures of the other side. The aim is to increase understanding of their concerns and interests. ”The plan was for a mutual exchange of employees from authorities and those from the private sector. By the end of 2006, however, only 12 employees of the federal administration had taken part in the exchange program.

Become known

A broader public became aware of staff exchange programs and the participation of external parties in federal ministries through the television magazine Monitor on October 19, 2006. The contribution was moderated with the words:

“Lobbyists try to influence politics in order to create advantages for their employer. To do this, they also speak to ministries. Some lobbyists no longer need to - they are already there. Yes, that's right, that's new: lobbyists now have their own offices in our ministries - next door to government officials and […] with their own extension number, and take notes on laws. They are paid by their companies. Loan officers - good for business, bad for citizens. [...] "

The report describes as an example that an employee of the airport operating company Fraport AG is said to have watered down a bill on extensive noise protection in the interests of his employer.

The administrative lawyer Hans Herbert von Arnim on externally financed Federal Ministry employees in a monitor interview:

“It's something completely new and surprising to me, the people in question are integrated into the ministries, but their loyalty belongs to those who pay them from the economy, and they don't do it for God's wages, but because they expect something from it, namely the promotion of their interests, the preferred information they get in this way. That is a particularly dangerous form of lobbying; it even moves in the orbit of corruption. "

In a second report on December 21, 2006, the television magazine took up the topic again. In the meantime, in November 2006, the federal government, in response to a small request from the FDP parliamentary group (see below), provided specific information on external employees in federal ministries. In the monitor article, however, this information was questioned. For example, the head of the corporate strategy department - transport policy at DaimlerChrysler was employed in the Federal Ministry of Transport in April and May 2002 - at a time when the award procedure for truck tolls in Germany was being processed there. As a partner in Toll Collect, DaimlerChrysler was part of the bidding consortium for the toll contract. A DaimlerChrysler employee in the Federal Ministry of Transport does not appear in the Federal Government's list.

The team of authors of the television magazine received an Adolf Grimme Prize in the Information & Culture section for “uncovering the 'Paid Lobbyism in Federal Ministries' scandal in monitor contributions (October 19 and December 21, 2006)” .

Presentation by the Federal Government in November 2006

“New and surprising” (von Arnim in Monitor see above) were staff exchange programs and the collaboration of external parties in federal ministries, including for many parliamentarians. With reference to the monitor broadcast on October 19, the topic was raised on October 25 in a current question time in the German Bundestag . On the same day, the FDP parliamentary group sent a written question to the federal government entitled “Monitor” - a report on a new type of lobbying in federal ministries . Dated November 16, 2006, the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen also made a small request to the federal government, title: Employment of employees of associations and commercial enterprises in federal ministries and subordinate federal authorities .

Request from the FDP

With the answer to the FDP request by the federal government on November 13, 2006, concrete information about the dimension has been available since then. On the question:

"1. How many employees who are fully or partially paid by companies, associations and trade unions have been or are currently employed in the federal ministries or in the highest federal authorities in the past four years? "

it says there:

“In the Federal Ministries and the Federal Chancellery, a total of 100 external employees, who were paid in full or in part by companies, associations or trade unions, have worked in business operations in the past four years or are currently deployed for a limited period. [...] "

The question

"2. In which federal ministries or the highest federal authorities were or are employees who are paid in full or in part by companies, associations or unions? Which companies, associations and trade unions are they each? "

is answered with the following list, in which the Ministry of Defense is not listed because of "the shortness of time":

On the question

"6. Which companies, associations and trade unions have participated in the Federal Government's personnel exchange program mentioned above over the past four years? "

a response follows, which reveals that only a few of the listed external parties were or are also participants in the staff exchange program Seitenwechsel (about which the FDP asked).

"The following companies, associations or unions took part in the" Public Sector - Private Sector "staff exchange program: Deutsche Bank AG, BASF AG, Daimler Chrysler AG, Alstom GmbH (Salzgitter) and ABB AG (Mannheim)"

On the dedicated question of the FDP parliamentary group:

"9. How many participants in the staff exchange program come from medium-sized companies? "

the Federal Government replies with:

"One participant comes from a medium-sized company."

Which of the companies listed under 6 - Deutsche Bank , BASF , Daimler Chrysler , Alstom , Asea Brown Boveri - is classified as a medium-sized company by the federal government does not result from the answer.

Inquiry about Alliance 90 / The Greens

In the preliminary remarks to their inquiry, the faction of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen had already noted: "A selective exchange between private individuals and the federal government can be useful in order to mutually transfer knowledge." - The staff exchange program Seitenwechsel came from the time of the red-green federal government. In its answer of December 4, 2006, the Federal Government confirmed the cooperation of externally financed company and association representatives, as shown in the Monitor article; however, any influence on political decisions or legislative proposals is strictly denied. The term “ posting ” is used for the work of external parties and more or less informative details are given:

"The employee of BASF AG who works at the Federal Government's Press and Information Office is employed in the Internet editorial department in the coordination group, where he writes reports on various topics."

The answer from the federal government describes the cooperation of external company and association representatives in federal ministries as unproblematic, yes, without reservation, positive.

Federal Ministry of Health

In November 2006 there was a scandal in the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG): An employee of the German Salaried Health Insurance Fund (DAK), who was temporarily sent to the ministry as a speaker , had passed on confidential information to the DAK in connection with the preparation of the health reform were played to the public. At the government press conference on November 27, journalists were confronted with the term “ delegation ” in this context .

The spokesman for the BMG (father):

"In the Federal Ministry of Health, there were very rare cases in the past week. The secondment of an employee from a health insurance company had to be resolved without notice because it had been found that this employee of a health insurance company, the DAK, had passed on papers from the company to his health insurance company, which then appeared in the media constantly. [...] "

In the further course the ministry spokesman presented this delegation as covered by § 30 SGB ​​IV , but revealed gaps in knowledge about the details of the payment of the health insurance expert loaned to the ministry:

"Journalists' question: Was the employee paid in full or in part by your company or by the DAK during the period of secondment?
BMG (father): This is regulated in the law, in SGB IV, so that there are different ways of handling it. [...] In this case, the Federal Ministry of Health covered part of the costs, and part of the personnel costs was covered by the sending health insurance company.
Journalists' question: What was the ratio of the costs to be shared?
BMG (father): I am overwhelmed by that. I assume that the fund took over a larger part and the ministry a smaller part. [...] "

According to the spokesman for the BMG, the following journalist question arises: “How many such delegates are there in your ministry? A question for the representatives of the other ministries. Is that actually consistent practice? "Refers the then Vice-Government Spokesman Steg to the answer of the Federal Government to the small question of the FDP (see above):

"According to this answer, around 100 external employees have worked for a limited period, sometimes only for a few days or weeks, in different ministries in the past four years, [...] As I said, this is based on the answer for the federal government on the small request. "

Directly afterwards the spokesman for the BMG (father)

“There are currently around 15 women and men from health insurance companies working as members of the Federal Ministry of Health. As far as I know, they are divided into seven people in the higher service and seven or eight people who work as clerks for a period of six months or a year. Actually, there is no need to be suspicious. [...] We live in a state that can also be questioned, that questions citizens, that opens up and that, if you will, can count itself lucky to be able to obtain the expertise of really proven experts in specialized areas. [...] "

In the response of the federal government to the request of the FDP parliamentary group, addressed by Vice-Government Spokesman Steg, the "almost 15 women and men from health insurance companies as members" do not appear at all. The reason for this can be found in the response of the federal government to a small inquiry from Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen (see above). In the eyes of the Federal Government, health insurance companies as corporations under public law are not “companies or associations”.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Foreign Office in 2004 externally paid employees of private institutions concerned before the establishment of the staff exchange program. An unspecified exchange of personnel is maintained with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg (MPI), see also the answer from the Federal Government. The institute finances at least some of the positions in the Foreign Office that are filled exclusively by MPI employees. Although these employees work as legal officers in the public sector, the Federal Foreign Office does not conduct a selection process. This raises questions as to the compatibility with the constitutional order of the best candidates in the public service ( Art. 33 para. 2 GG ) on.

Employees from energy companies were on loan at the Federal Foreign Office, where they worked on issues of strategic energy policy.

Report of the Federal Audit Office and administrative regulation

Triggered by the public discussion, the Federal Audit Office deals with practice. On March 25, 2008, he recommended in a report to change the previous practice. On July 17, 2008, the Federal Ministry of the Interior then issued the general administrative regulation for the deployment of non-public employees (external persons) in the federal administration .

Reports from the Federal Ministry of the Interior on the use of external persons

The first report on the use of external persons in the federal administration of September 29, 2008 covers the period from January 1, 2008 to August 31, 2008. As a printed matter from the Bundestag committee, it was not intended for the public, but was published by Spiegel Online ins Network placed. The second report of March 20, 2009 covers the period from September 1, 2008 to January 31, 2009. It was published on carta.info. Since the 13th report, the reports have been published by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Fifteenth Report on the Deployment of External Persons in the Federal Administration covers the period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kim Otto and Sascha Adamek: The bought state , Cologne, 2008
  2. ↑ Press and Information Office of the Federal Government: Changing Pages - Changing Desks ( Memento of the original dated February 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: e.conomy . No. 037 08/2006 (The year 2002 given as the start date is incorrect.)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesregierung.de
  3. ↑ a b German Federal Government: Response of the Federal Government to the Small Inquiry “Monitor” - Report on a new type of lobbying in federal ministries Bundesdrucksache 16/3165 (PDF; 83 kB) . Federal printed matter 16/3395
  4. ↑ quoted from Adolf Grimme Institute : Prize Winners 2007 Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.grimme-institut.de
  5. ↑ FDP parliamentary group: Small question “Monitor” - report on a new type of lobbying in federal ministries (PDF; 52 kB). Federal printed matter 16/3165
  6. ↑ Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen parliamentary group: Small request for the cooperation of employees of associations and commercial enterprises in federal ministries and subordinate federal authorities (PDF; 47 kB). Federal printed matter 16/3431
  7. ↑ German Federal Government: Response of the Federal Government to the Small Inquiry Cooperation of employees of associations and commercial enterprises in federal ministries and in subordinate federal authorities Bundesdrucksache 16/3431 (PDF; 109 kB) . Federal printed matter 16/3727
  8. ^ German Federal Government: Transcript of the press conference - Government press conference of November 27th  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / archiv.bundesregierung.de  
  9. ^ Reply of the Federal Foreign Office to IFG inquiry of July 18, 2007, Gz. 1-IFG-511E2007062740744
  10. ↑ PDF at dip21.bundestag.de:80
  11. ↑ Answer of the Foreign Office to IFG inquiry of August 21, 2007, Gz. 1-IFG-511E2007062740744
  12. ↑ [1]
  13. ↑ Federal Ministry of the Interior: General administrative regulation for the use of non-public employees (external persons) in the federal administration
  14. ↑ unknown. (No longer available online.) In: Spiegel Online . Formerly in the original ; accessed on May 2, 2020 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.spiegel.de
  15. ↑ Federal Ministry of the Interior: Second report on the use of external persons in the federal administration  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.carta.info  
  16. ↑ 15. Report  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bmi.bund.de  

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