Part-time jobs in federal ministries: civil servants earned more than two million euros extra

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Federal authorities
Part-time jobs in federal ministries: civil servants earned more than two million euros extra

Civil servants in federal ministries have earned more than two million euros through secondary employment since the start of the traffic light government. This emerges from figures from the Federal Ministry of the Interior star present.

The frontrunners are therefore the officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance. A total of 445 secondary activities were approved, reported or not prohibited and income of around 716,000 euros was achieved. The civil servants of the Federal Ministry of Justice follow at some distance with 206 secondary jobs – however, the Federal Ministry of Economics is in second place in terms of income with around 592,000 euros.

The numbers come from an answer to a written question from CDU Bundestag member Matthias Hauer and are dated January 11th of this year.

Additional income of BMF officials is more than 700,000 euros

According to this, since the beginning of the traffic light coalition, 2,176 permits to carry out secondary employment have been issued in the ministries Secondary activities that were not prohibited are displayed. Civil servants must either have all paid secondary employment approved or reported – with exceptions.

The numbers could be even higher because: The Federal Ministry of the Interior points out in its response that the exact income is not tracked in all departments. The federal government therefore has no meaningful information on the total income generated from secondary activities. In addition, the different numbers of employees in the ministries caused a “lack of comparability”.

The five federal ministries with the most secondary activities – based on the available figures – are:

Within the group of federal ministries that record income, these five authorities achieve the most:

In total, the civil servants from the five federal ministries have additional income of 2,220,718 euros.

The CDU MP Hauer now sees the federal government as having a duty. This would have to “take appropriate measures to ensure that secondary activities are correctly reported and systematically documented in all ministries,” said Hauer star. The “lavish income” from secondary activities in the ministries of Christian Lindner (Finance) and Robert Habeck (Economy) in particular would raise questions.

The traffic light must ensure that the secondary activities of its officials do not impair official interests, demanded Hauer. “The traffic light has so far failed to provide answers to this – we will look very closely,” said the CDU politician. Even the appearance of a conflict of interest could damage trust in politics.

Exclusive

Federal authorities
Civil servants in the Ministry of Finance have earned more than 700,000 euros on the side since the federal election

12/28/2023

The Green group also takes the issue very seriously. “Supplementary income can be problematic, especially if it takes place in the subject area of ​​the civil servants’ activities,” said financial policy spokeswoman Katharina Beck star. “Inquiries from the Greens have shown in the past that civil servants in the tax department in the BMF in particular have high additional income,” said Beck. “Against this background, the activities in the BMF, but also in the ministries as a whole, should always be continually examined and regulations adjusted if necessary.”

The case of a head of department brought the secondary activities of Finance Ministry officials into focus (the star reported). A ZDF investigation revealed that a head of department at the BMF was said to have taken part as a speaker at an event where tips on avoiding taxes were presented. Finance Minister Lindner (FDP) then declared that it would review the rules of conduct for secondary employment.

According to Green Party politician Beck, civil servants must absolutely be independent and avoid any suspicion of influence, and therefore the ministries must also be protected from external influence by interest groups. Although the exchange with practitioners is important, the line to influence is still “very thin”.

fs / me