Robert Habeck responds to some complaints with a phone call. picture alliance / Getty Images
Alexander Zimmer, an entrepreneur from Monheim in North Rhine-Westphalia, submitted an application for funding for renewable energies in May 2022. He didn’t get an answer for a year and a half.
That’s why he wrote a complaint email to the Ministry of Economic Affairs at the beginning of January. Economics Minister Robert Habeck’s reaction followed: he simply called Zimmer. The two spoke for over ten minutes.
After the conversation, the entrepreneur was enthusiastic: “That’s encouraging.” Habeck’s spontaneous call was not an isolated incident. The minister holds such discussions “at irregular intervals, as time permits,” explains a spokeswoman.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck responded to an entrepreneur’s complaint email by simply calling him. The man from North Rhine-Westphalia then expressed his enthusiasm about the conversation with Habeck.
One evening at the end of January, Alexander Zimmer’s phone rang. The entrepreneur from North Rhine-Westphalia picked up – and heard Robert Habeck’s voice. The unexpected call from the Federal Minister of Economics was a response to his complaint email. The two had a conversation that lasted just over ten minutes. “In the phone call I experienced a person who was deeply sincere, decent and honest with me,” Zimmer reported enthusiastically afterwards.
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Zimmer runs the Marienburg in Monheim, an old manor house with a conference and congress center. This also includes a guest house, a restaurant and a grill academy. In May 2022 he submitted an application for funding for renewable energies. He’s been waiting for an answer for a year and a half.
At the beginning of January, Zimmer sent an email to Habeck’s office in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection in which he expressed his frustration and criticized the delays caused by lengthy approval processes and bureaucracy. Habeck took this as a reason for the surprising call. Afterwards, Zimmer was enthusiastic: “That’s encouraging.”
Robert Habeck’s call was not an isolated incident
The call to Zimmer is apparently nothing unusual. When asked, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics explained that such calls began last year – “at irregular intervals, as time permits.”
It is important to Habeck to respond directly to inquiries and criticism, to listen and to find out where there is a need for improvement. With regard to the selection of conversation partners, she emphasized that these were primarily people who, for example, turned to the citizens’ dialogue or otherwise signaled the need for discussion.
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A week and a half after the email, Zimmer received a positive response to his request from the ministry. The entrepreneur shared his Habeck anecdote on the career platform LinkedIn. In a world full of crises, it is important to show “that occasionally something good happens.” Zimmer would like to maintain the exchange with the minister. “We want to stay in touch. For me that’s a sign that it’s not a PR stunt.”
With dpa material