There is a dispute among the “economic wise men” because council member Veronika Grimm wants to join the supervisory board of Siemens Energy. The majority of the Advisory Council fears for the body’s independence.
In the Council of “Economic Wise Men” there is criticism of the participation of economist Veronika Grimm in the advisory committee. Members of the council suggest that the scientist forego a supervisory board mandate at Siemens Energy or leave the advisory council.
“The majority in the Economic Advisory Council sees the nomination of Veronika Grimm to the Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy as an honor. Nevertheless, this nomination poses a challenge to the Economic Advisory Council,” says a statement from four members of the council. The Handelsblatt had previously reported on a dispute over Grimm’s personality.
“Possible conflicts of interest”
According to the statement, chairwoman Monika Schnitzer and council members Ulrike Malmendier, Achim Truger and Martin Werding “agree that there are possible conflicts of interest in this constellation. These affect the work of the Advisory Council in core areas.” The upcoming restructuring of the energy supply in Germany is of outstanding economic and economic policy importance.
Apparently, differences in content among the council members also play a role in the personnel dispute. It is known that Veronika Grimm is much more critical of the federal government’s policies than other members of the Advisory Council, especially the ideas of the SPD and the Greens.
This can be seen, for example, in the discussions surrounding the debt brake: Chairwoman Monika Schnitzer advocates a far-reaching reform in order to be able to finance more investments, while Grimm is much more reserved. Recently, Grimm had repeatedly criticized the coalition and accused it of a “weak transformation policy”. Schnitzer, Malmendier and Truger, nominated by the unions, are also less critical of state subsidies.
State guarantee for Siemens Energy
The rules for the appointment of members of the Advisory Council do not stipulate that they may not hold a supervisory board mandate in a company during their advisory work for the government. The law on the formation of the Council of Experts, which was created in 1963, only stipulates that the experts may not be employed by the government or in the public service or belong to a business association.
“In public perception, however, the awareness of compliance issues has increased,” says the statement from the council members around Chairwoman Schnitzer, “and is taking on greater importance in the debate, but also in the positioning of companies and corporations for example, ten or 15 years ago.”
The four members of the committee obviously also see Siemens Energy’s “closeness to the state” as a problem. Siemens Energy recently received a government guarantee of 7.5 billion euros. The group expects “orders through the federal government’s power plant strategy,” economist Ulrike Malmendier recently told “Zeit”.
Grimm should “decide on one of the two mandates”
“We are very concerned that we will no longer be perceived as an independent body when it comes to energy issues if Veronika Grimm has a dual mandate,” said council chairwoman Monika Schnitzer to the dpa news agency. “We would like Ms. Grimm to choose one of the two mandates.”
According to Handelsblatt, Grimm sees no reason to resign. In an email, she responded to the criticism by saying that the compatibility of a supervisory board mandate with the position at the “Wirtschafts Weisen” had been clarified by the federal ministries and also by Siemens Energy before her nomination. “The compliance issues were examined comprehensively and carefully.”
Information from Hans-Joachim Vieweger, ARD Capital Studio.