Change between politics and business

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This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

In a democracy , political offices and mandates are only granted for a limited period of time. As a result, after the end of the term of office there is a regular change between politics and business . If the new activities are related to the previous political goals, conflicts of interest are conceivable. The rapid change of occupation between politics and economy is of critical voices, looking at the integration of politics and economy as a revolving door (English Revolving Door referred). In Germany, the change usually takes place from politics to business; the opposite way is much rarer.

Change from politics to business

Companies that offer former high-ranking politicians or civil servants positions, for example as consultants , on the supervisory board or on the executive board , often hope that their new employees will not only have qualifications but also that they will use their political contacts profitably for the company. Those who switch to business often justify themselves by saying that the company's goals have long been important to them in their work as politicians or civil servants.

An advantage for the company is often the internal knowledge of political processes that the new employees bring with them. Especially if the company's goals conflict with the (former) party's goals.

Anyone who strives for a position in the economy as a politician or civil servant runs the risk of making decisions in favor of the new employer. According to the lobby control initiative, the mere suspicion of more business-friendly decisions harms trust in democracy. The initiative also criticizes the fact that this form of obtaining advantages, which is actually practiced, is not seen as corruption . Furthermore, lobby control notes in the “revolving door study” that this special access to politics is largely only possible for financially strong companies, which strengthens existing power structures. The former politicians are also often very intransparent and point out that they now work as private individuals and are not accountable to anyone.

Change from business to politics

The arguments of politics are often similar to those of the external employees in German federal ministries : they want to benefit from the expertise of proven experts in a certain area.

If the change is made in this way, the companies can hope that the person concerned will remember his old employer when making decisions. On the other hand, it can of course also happen that politicians promise to be able to use the influence that the newcomer may still have in the company, for example to get it to guarantee a job. Furthermore, parties with the contacts of the newcomer can perhaps hope for a party donation.

The example of Zitzelsberger shows how a company tried to score points with the shareholders by changing an employee.

Regulations in Germany

For members of the Federal Government and for civil servants, according to Section 6 of the Federal Ministers Act and Section 39 of the Civil Service Framework Act, there is a duty of confidentiality on matters that have come to light in the office. According to lobby control, there are no further restrictions for them to switch to business.

The subject is debated every now and then in the Bundestag, but a solution does not seem to be within reach. The requirements range from a code of ethics , a waiting period of several years to an obligation to report similar to the regulations for civil servants.

According to Section 42a of the Civil Service Law Framework Act, civil servants are required to report a new lobbying activity to the highest service authority for up to five years after leaving office if this new activity is related to their previous activity. The service authority can then prohibit the new activity. Anyone who disregards this ban will lose their pension entitlements.

There is also the question of the extent to which the switch to the economy fulfills the offense of the criminal acceptance of advantages , which could be given if an official receives advantages with regard to his office, said the constitutional lawyer Helmut Siekmann in an interview with Manager-Magazin on December 12, 2005.

Prominent examples from Germany

  • 1999: Heribert Zitzelsberger , long-time head of the tax department at Bayer AG , is appointed State Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. The then Bayer boss Manfred Schneider commented on this at the shareholders' meeting with the words: “We have given our best tax man to Bonn. I hope that he has been so infiltrated by Bayer that he [...] will initiate the right path ”.
  • 2005: Gerhard Schröder , German Chancellor (SPD) until the Bundestag election on September 18, 2005 , was shortly thereafter chairman of the supervisory board of Nord Stream AG , a pipeline consortium in which, among others, the Russian Gazprom is involved. He was thus involved in a project that he had always accompanied very benevolently as head of government. German politicians from all parties reacted with criticism and indignation, and Russian opposition members also criticized Schröder's new activities. The Eastern Committee of German Business welcomed Schröder's new job, but criticized the timing of the change shortly after the end of the Schröder government and the way it was announced.
  • 2007: The leader in the "coordination of European policy" of the federal government Joachim Lang switches to the energy group E.ON .
  • 2013: Hildegard Müller's successor in the Chancellery, Eckart von Klaeden (CDU), announced in May 2013 that he would become chief lobbyist at Daimler-Benz AG at the end of the year . Von Klaeden was previously Minister of State with the Chancellor a. a. responsible for the regulation of CO 2 limit values. Ludwig Greven commented on the occasion: “Such changes between politics and business are problematic. This is particularly evident in the case of Gerhard Schröder's Minister for Economic Affairs, Werner Müller . As a minister, the former VEBA manager had allowed his former employer E.ON to take over Ruhrgas AG despite objections from the cartel office. In 2003 he became a board member of Ruhrkohle AG . "()

International well-known examples

Many former employees of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs also had careers in politics, see section Careers of former employees , e.g. B .:

Viviane Reding has worked for the European Union Commission since 1999 , from 2010 to mid-2014 as Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. After the European elections in May 2014 , this office and her Vice-Presidency of the European Commission ended . She became a member of the European Parliament (MEP) and has since received various job offers. She has been a member of the board of trustees of the Bertelsmann Stiftung since January 1, 2015, and received offers to work as a member of the board of directors from both the mining group Nyrstar and Agfa-Gevaert AG . She was also invited to work for the UEFA Foundation for Children (which is still being planned) and for various speaker agencies. Reding herself described her secondary occupations as unproblematic in 2014; they have been approved by the European Commission.

Alan Greenspan , after retiring as Fed chief , took on advisory positions at Deutsche Bank, the Pacific Investment Management Company and the hedge fund Paulson & Company. Jeremy C. Stein, previously on the Federal Reserve Board , became an advisor to the hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management. Ben Bernanke accepted an advisory position with the hedge fund manager Citadel .

Regulations in the European Union

At the European level there are regulations through which the rapid change to the economy should be made transparent . For example, for 18 months after leaving office , members of the European Commission must notify the Commission of any professional activity that is to be taken up. Furthermore, the commissioners are subject to a competition clause : If there could be a conflict of interest with the former area of ​​responsibility, an ethics committee decides on the compatibility. The European Commission is strictly prohibited from lobbying in areas in which it was active during its tenure during these 18 months.

France

In France, close personal ties between politics and business have traditionally been promoted. There is talk of the so-called pantouflage .

United States

The widespread in the United States is there as a phenomenon Revolving Door ( revolving door called).

Japan

In Japan, the flowery term Amakudari ( "to descend from heaven" ) is used.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

The information in this article is largely taken from the revolving door study by Lobbycontrol (November 15, 2007)

  1. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 7, 2004, No. 155 / page 12
  2. ↑ Lobbycontrol blog entry , “SPD member becomes EADS lobbyist” November 18, 2008
  3. ↑ manager-magazin: The former Chancellor and the Agent , December 12, 2005
  4. ↑ Schröder ruins his reputation . Mirror online. December 12, 2005. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ a b "Touch of Corruption". In: merkur-online.de. December 11, 2005, accessed March 4, 2011 .
  6. ↑ "A Shame for Democracy". In: Spiegel Online . December 14, 2005, accessed March 4, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Business welcomes Schröder's Gazprom job. In: Berliner Zeitung . April 7, 2006, accessed March 4, 2011 .
  8. ↑ [1]
  9. ↑ pros and cons: seamless change or waiting period? - The time
  10. ↑ deutschlandfunk.de: Bahr becomes board member for insurance . Deutschlandfunk , September 29, 2014
  11. ↑ allianzdeutschland.de: changes to the management . Allianz , September 29, 2014
  12. ↑ Change to the armaments industry: FDP politician Baum settles accounts with Niebel
  13. ↑ U. Gellermann, March 11, 2013. In: danieladahn.de: We are the state! (Reviews )
  14. ^ Organizational structure of the Bertelsmann Foundation. In: bertelsmann-stiftung.de. Retrieved February 24, 2012 .
  15. ↑ Bonse, Eric: "The Bertelsmann Commissioner". In: taz.de. November 12, 2014, accessed February 24, 2012 .
  16. ↑ "On the Agfa Supervisory Board". In: tageblatt.lu. January 7, 2015, accessed February 24, 2012 .
  17. ^ A b Corporate Europe Observatory: Revolving Door Watch - Viviane Reding. In: corporateeurope.org. Retrieved February 24, 2012 .
  18. ↑ "I don't see any problem at all". In: tageblatt.lu. November 12, 2014, accessed February 24, 2012 .
  19. ↑ a b c nytimes.com April 16, 2015: Ben Bernanke Will Work With Citadel, a Hedge Fund, as an Adviser
  20. ↑ Code of Conduct for Commissioners (PDF; 853 kB), April 20, 2011
  21. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education : Education and Structure of the Political Elite in France, accessed on October 29, 2015
  22. ↑ World : Pension items for ex-top politicians accessed on October 29, 2015
  23. ↑ Anti-corruption portal : Amakudari is a common practice in Japan. (Status 2014) , accessed on October 29, 2015.