The federal government is refusing to provide details regarding its expenditure on external communication consultants. This comes after reports indicated that Economics Minister Katherina Reiche alone spends up to €2.2 million annually on such services. Dietmar Bartsch, a member of the left-wing party, pressed for information on how much the other ministries and the Chancellery invest in strategic, image, or crisis communications.
However, the federal government has ignored the written inquiry, according to the newspaper “Spiegel”. Dennis Rohde, the Financial State Secretary (SPD), responded that gathering the requested information within the standard one-week timeframe was “impossible.”
Bartsch strongly criticized this evasion, calling it arrogant towards Parliament and the public who fund these operations. He suggested two possible reasons for the lack of transparency: either the sheer volume of contracts and high costs could not be accurately counted in a week, or the governing coalition actively wished to avoid negative publicity that might arise from simultaneously cutting social spending while dedicating large sums to image consultants who would effectively market poor policy as successful.
