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Did acquaintances of an official in the Federal Ministry of Transport benefit from subsidies? According to “Handelsblatt” research, this accusation is in the room. The Union is now forcing the minister to respond.
It is about allegations against a department head that Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) did not hire himself, but who at least heads the policy department of his house. The hydrogen expert with contacts in business and science was brought to the ministry in 2019 by the then department head Andreas Scheuer (CSU).
According to research by the “Handelsblatt”, there is, among other things, the suspicion that the head of department was involved in the allocation of funds from which acquaintances would have benefited. Specifically, it should be about the chairman of the board of directors of the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV) and a Bavarian entrepreneur.
The “Handelsblatt” reports that the entrepreneur’s association and companies received around 28 million euros from the “National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology”. The funding program is therefore the responsibility of the policy department in the Federal Ministry of Transport.
Wissing is silent – the Union asks 41 questions
The Ministry of Transport has promised to examine the allegations thoroughly. But these are now a few weeks old, and the opposition in the Bundestag is slowly losing patience with Minister Wissing, who has so far remained silent on the matter. The CDU/CSU parliamentary group has sent a small request to the ministry: four pages, 41 questions. The paper suits him ARD Capital Studio exclusively before.
Among other things, the Union wants to know when Wissing first heard about the allegations against his department head, whether and when he spoke to him about whether the department head actually influenced the granting of funding for the DWV or whether he was influenced by the possession of patents may itself have benefited from subsidies.
“accusation of Favoritism”
Ulrich Lange, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, speaks of an “accusation of favoritism” that weighs heavily. Transport Minister Wissing must clarify the matter quickly and comprehensively, “otherwise this allegation would become his personal problem,” said Lange ARD Capital Studio. Wissing must make clarification a top priority. “It’s not just about tax money, but also about the trust of the citizens in a clean and constitutionally working ministerial administration.”
His coalition partners also fear that the allegations against Wissing’s officials could cost trust. Green transport politician Stefan Gelbhaar: “The ministry’s allocation practice must be clearly comprehensible, so that there can be no doubt about the proper use of tax funds.” Wissing’s ministry will “certainly publish a comprehensive and final statement.”
The SPD also relies on this. The deputy parliamentary group leader Detlef Müller said ARD Capital Studio, it is right and important that the ministry “is now actively contributing to the transparent clarification of the case”. If it turns out that the previous compliance rules are not clear enough, they would have to be improved, says Müller.
Lobby control demands independent compliance controls
For the anti-corruption organization Lobbycontrol, that is no longer a question. Their representative Aurel Eschmann said that ARD Capital Studio, rules of conduct set up by ministries themselves do not work: there must be uniform compliance requirements for all ministries, which are controlled by an external body. Regarding the allegations against the head of department, Eschmann said: “Trust in the ministry has been shaken here.”
The allegations are being examined in Minister Wissing’s house. “We take the allegations very seriously,” it said ARD-Inquiry. We check thoroughly and ask “for your understanding that we are currently unable to comment on the details of the ongoing examination”.