Finally, a city spokesman vaguely concedes: “Yes, as far as I know, there are donations and support to clubs, organizations and institutions” – but these are “by no means reprehensible”. It was also possible to buy shares of land for the industrial area “Turnich 3” from RWE “at market prices” and also to cooperate with the residential area Wahlenpfad with the coal group.
The mayor’s office did not comment on the specific financial scope of the grants from RWE or on possible further support.
BUND: “Scandal Veritabler”
Dirk Jansen from the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND NRW) has been following developments in the Rhenish lignite mining area for many years. It bothers him that the framework agreement was effective precisely in the years when there was an intense struggle for the Hambach Forest.
In this critical phase, the city of Kerpen “said very clearly through the agreement: we are not doing anything against RWE’s plans,” said Jansen. “It’s a real scandal for me.”
The mayor submitted the final agreement to the city council
According to the city, the framework agreement was presented to the city council for the first time on November 7th, 2017 in a non-public meeting and passed by the council a week later, on November 14th – also in camera.
Mayor Spürck had engineered the deal in advance: he presented the four-sided agreement to the city council, which had already been formulated. At this point in time, RWE had already signed the paper, the signatures are dated November 3, 2017.
Spürck states that he himself only signed the agreement after the city council decision of November 14, 2017. This cannot be verified independently. His signature does not bear a separate date.
exclusion of the public and confidentiality
The non-public meeting was also arranged on behalf of the CDU mayor. As a result, the framework agreement and the city council decision on it remained hidden from the citizens of the city of Kerpen. The hands of city council members – including those who voted against – were tied. Because matters from non-public meetings are subject to confidentiality – a breach of this would be punishable.
Lobby control: “Unacceptable from a democratic point of view”
The non-governmental organization Lobbycontrol, which is critical of lobbying, condemns this secrecy: “The citizens don’t know that decisions are made in favor of RWE because the city receives ‘help’ in return,” says Ninakatzemich. “From a democratic point of view, that’s actually not acceptable,” she criticizes.
The city of Kerpen sees it differently: “In the consultations, essential principles, strategies and business models were presented or discussed. This is the reason for the non-publicity,” says a statement.
(City council meetings that are not open to the public are) “the legally compliant and recognized customary way of advising and passing resolutions in every municipality in order not to endanger one’s own negotiating position or to disclose trade secrets to third parties.” town of Kerpen
Did the contract affect the course of the opencast mine? city is silent
The understanding that “the further development of the opencast mine will not be questioned by the city of Kerpen” can be found right on the first page of the framework agreement. This is the “basic understanding” of the “constructive partnership” between the city and the lignite company. “It is the common understanding to continue this cooperation,” it says a few sentences later.
The WDR wanted to know what effects the agreement between the city of Kerpen and RWE had on the course of opencast mining.