Opposition criticism: Untersteller advises energy suppliers

Created: 01/12/2022Updated: 01/12/2022, 1:01 PM

The Baden-Württemberg Minister of the Environment, Franz Untersteller (Alliance 90 / The Greens).

© Patrick Seeger / dpa

Is an ex-environment minister allowed to advise an energy supplier soon after leaving politics?

Opinions differ on the question.

Because Untersteller is a Green, particularly high standards are applied.

Stuttgart - The opposition is critical of the new advisory job of the former Environment Minister Franz Untersteller (64) at the Mannheim utility MVV.

The SPD complained that the commitment of the Greens "definitely has a taste" because he was previously responsible for the general conditions of the energy industry as minister for ten years.

She is calling for a regulation for a "cooling off phase" for outgoing politicians.

FDP parliamentary group leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke considers the activity to be too early almost nine months after Unterstellers left office.

"Mr. Untersteller would have done better to keep a little more time lag." Transparency also considers the commitment to be problematic.

The house of Environment Minister Thekla Walker (Greens), on the other hand, assesses the advisory job positively.

In the south-west, unlike in the federal government, there are no rules for a waiting period for former members of the government.

In their coalition agreement, however, the Greens and the CDU have resolved to forbid employment in certain cases for a period of 18 months after leaving office.

According to reports, there is still no progress here.

Boris Weirauch said on behalf of the SPD: "The Untersteller case makes it clear once again that the Greens are not meeting their own demands." Bill submitted for a waiting period of 18 months.

As minister, Untersteller was responsible for the energy industry and nuclear supervision in the southwest from 2011 to 2021 and is considered a confidante of Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens).

A spokesman for the ministry said: “Even before leaving as minister and member of the state parliament, Franz Untersteller announced that he would like to do something new professionally.

The fact that he is now advising a company on the energy transition is a logical step. "

The spokesman emphasized that the ex-minister is a proven expert in energy issues.

"And every expert who is involved in the urgently needed expansion of renewable energies helps the country with the important energy and heating transition." Untersteller himself refused to comment when asked.

On Tuesday, MVV announced that the 64-year-old will be working as a consultant for the fifth largest supplier in Germany.

He will promote the exchange between the company and municipalities in the reduction of CO2 emissions and solutions for environmentally friendly cities.

The cooperation was agreed at the beginning of this year and will start immediately.

There is an expense allowance and no employment.

MVV has around 6,200 employees and is partly owned by the city of Mannheim.

MVV RWE GmbH is one of the owners of Grosskraftwerk Mannheim AG, which generates electricity from hard coal.

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On behalf of Transparency, Norman Loeckel had said that there was nothing legally objectionable about the transition.

Nevertheless, the question arises whether this activity is legitimate.

Waiting periods should prevent former members of the government from taking decisions either beforehand in office or afterwards that would benefit the company or give them important access to decision-makers after the politician has left office.

"If subordinates are paid, that would certainly be a conflict of interest," said Loeckel.

In other federal states such as North Rhine-Westphalia, the waiting period is twelve months.

The anti-corruption organization Transparency advocates three years in order to create a “real distance” from previous work.

dpa