BERLIN — Ursula von der Leyen is planning for a brand new job as European Commission chief in Brussels, however the German protection minister continues to have concerns to resolve home.
An investigative committee of this German parliament — the most challenging tool that lawmakers may use to probe federal federal government misdeeds — is searching into just just how profitable agreements from her ministry had been granted to outside experts without the right oversight, and whether a system of casual individual connections facilitated those discounts.
While the lawmakers looking at the situation say von der Leyen will nevertheless need certainly to face their concerns regardless if this woman is confirmed as Commission president in a vote into the European Parliament on Tuesday.
“Whatever job Ms. von der Leyen has within the won’t that is future at all the truth that the committee will subpoena and concern her,” said Tobias Lindner, an associate of parliament additionally the safety policy representative when it https://www.datingmentor.org/otaku-chat-rooms/ comes to Greens opposition celebration.
“What occurred into the past when you look at the protection ministry under her leadership happened — and we’ll arrive at the base of that.”
The auditors’ primary critique wasn’t that the ministry taken care of outside expertise. Instead, it absolutely was concerning the method contracts had been granted.
Von der Leyen and her ministry declined requests for interviews with this tale. Final November, she told the German parliament there have been “mistakes” in just just how external professionals had been employed and said “this never needs occurred.” But she defended the application of such experts, saying that they had been needed to undertake a large overhaul of this ministry.
Von der Leyen blamed the nagging issues on an assortment of negligence, corner-cutting and errors by people overrun by their work. But other people have actually submit a less innocent description — that some specialists had privileged use of ministry officials that aided them circumvent rules and win contracts well worth millions of euros.
Though there is not any suggestion that von der Leyen herself ended up being section of this system, the increased utilization of outside specialists happens to be a hallmark of her tenure as protection minister.
Interviews with people in the investigative committee, witness testimony and papers acquired by POLITICO all recommend outside professionals have already been able to gain growing impact on the internal workings for the protection ministry throughout the five and a half years that von der Leyen has been around cost.
Whenever von der Leyen faces the committee, she will probably additionally face questions regarding an interior inquiry by her ministry to the event | Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images
“right from the start it absolutely was Ms. von der Leyen’s desire and political intention that outside professionals would gain impact,” said Matthias Höhn, an associate of parliament as well as the representative on safety policy for the left-wing Die Linke celebration.
Whenever von der Leyen faces the committee, she will probably additionally face questions regarding an inquiry that is internal her ministry in to the event. A member of parliament for the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in that investigation, “central questions weren’t asked, suspicions weren’t followed up,” said Dennis Rohde.
“All of the, me, was a crude attempt to distract from misconduct and cover up for people among the leadership,” Rohde added if you ask.
Criticism regarding the ministry within the scandal has arrived from numerous opposition events as well as the SPD, the junior partner in Germany’s coalition government. People of von der Leyen’s camp that is conservative supported her therefore the ministry but even a few of them have already been lower than full-throated inside their protection.
Here’s the lowdown on what’s become referred to as Berateraffäre (consultant scandal):