According to a response from Katherina Reiche’s office, the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs (CDU), and her state secretaries met with representatives of energy corporations 37 times between January and September. Significantly, only one meeting took place with environmental associations. A report by “Der Spiegel” highlights these figures, which were published following an inquiry by the Green parliamentary group. Reiche herself was present at seven of those engagements. During this period, the ministerial leadership had no scheduled discussions with companies within the renewable energy sector.
Civil society groups and Green technology companies have long voiced complaints that they struggle to secure meetings with Reiche and her top staff. The single meeting mentioned with environmental organizations was reportedly handled by State Secretary Frank Wetzel. Critics argue that this imbalance suggests a bias toward traditional energy giants in the economic ministry’s proposed legislation.
Michael Kellner, a Green member of parliament and former parliamentary state secretary in the ministry during the current coalition government, stated that “unilaterally formed opinions lead to unilateral policies.” He alleged that representatives from the renewable energy industry and environmental groups are rarely heard or visible. The ministry, however, communicated that there had been various professional contacts at levels below the executive leadership, though a complete list of these interactions does not exist.
