“One mistake too many” – Habeck sends State Secretary Graichen into temporary retirement
“It’s one mistake too many”
Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Patrick Graichen will vacate his post. The reason for the decision is new information after further internal reviews. Economics Minister Robert Habeck explains the background.
Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Patrick Graichen has been criticized for weeks for accusations of nepotism. Now the affair has consequences. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) gave new information about a compliance violation as a reason.
WState Secretary for Economic Affairs Patrick Graichen has to vacate his post as a result of further internal audits. That said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (both Greens) on Wednesday in Berlin. This was decided on Tuesday evening in a joint discussion.
Habeck referred to new inconsistencies and specifically a violation of internal compliance rules. It is about a planned funding as part of the national climate protection initiative for a project of the Berlin regional association of the Federal Government for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), in which Graichen’s sister was a board member. This is to be assessed as a compliance violation.
Habeck said he had known about the process since last Tuesday. A first cursory assessment was exculpatory – which changed with a more thorough examination in the direction of incriminating. In November 2022, Graichen approved a list of “project outlines”. One of them was about a project of the BUND regional association in Berlin with a sum of 600,000 euros. His sister was state chairman at the BUND in Berlin until May 2022.
Former Secretary of State Patrick Graichen
Source: dpa/Kay Nietfeld
The project was classified as eligible for funding, so a final decision was only a matter of form. Money has not yet flowed, said Habeck. But: “The template should not have been presented to him, nor should he have signed it. It’s one mistake too many.” That’s why he made the decision to resign his state secretary.
Graichen is to be retired
“This is a far-reaching, difficult decision – far-reaching for my house, difficult for me and very hard for Patrick Graichen. But it’s about protecting trust in the work of this house as an institution,” said Habeck. Graichen had made himself too vulnerable to still be able to exercise his office. He is to be placed on temporary retirement.
Habeck expressly thanked Graichen for his work: “He has done great work for Germany”. The minister also criticized the way he was treated in public. “He was attacked, it’s unbearable,” he said, naming “right-wing extremists” and “pro-Russian” accounts on social media.
Habeck announced that he or she would find a successor before the beginning of the parliamentary summer recess. He ended the short press conference with the ironic statement: “I will not appoint my best man as the new Secretary of State.”
Graichen himself said on Twitter at noon: “As State Secretary at the BMWK, I have campaigned, argued and worked for the energy transition and climate protection for the past 17 months. I made mistakes, too,” he wrote. “The challenges we face are too great to continue to be overshadowed by debates about myself and my family. It must be about maintaining the political ability to act for the energy transition and climate protection.” Robert Habeck and he therefore came to the decision that he would no longer hold the office of State Secretary. “At a later date I will look back in more detail at this intensive commitment to this country in times of climate crisis, energy crisis and energy price crisis.
Graichen was recently criticized for his involvement in the selection of his best man for the chief post of the federal German Energy Agency (Dena). Both Graichen and Habeck now speak of a mistake. The procedure for selecting personnel is to be rolled out again.
Just a week ago, Habeck had backed the State Secretary
After a joint survey in the committees for energy and economy and climate protection last Wednesday, Habeck still stuck to Graichen. “I have decided that Patrick Graichen does not have to go because of this mistake,” the minister said after the two-and-a-half-hour meeting. However, a civil service examination is now being carried out, because the requirements of the Ministry of Economic Affairs have “recognisably been violated”.
Opposition representatives had shown themselves to be unimpressed after the meeting and saw further open questions. Graichen’s resignation was also repeatedly demanded. Representatives of the CDU/CSU also had set up a committee of inquiry.
There is also criticism of personal ties in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Graichen’s sister, married to his colleague Michael Kellner, works like her brother at the Öko-Institut – a research institute that receives orders from the federal government. The ministry emphasizes that Kellner and Graichen were not involved in tenders for which the Öko-Institut could have applied.
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