State Secretary Philipp in sight: Union has questions about other Habeck officials

State Secretary Philipp in sight
Union has questions about other Habeck officials

05/18/2023 3:41 p.m

After the involuntary departure of Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Graichen, there is still no peace in Robert Habeck’s ministry. Now stocks and holdings of his chief industrial policy and startup official raise uncomfortable questions.

After criticism of a possible conflict of interest from State Secretary Udo Philipp, the Federal Ministry of Economics has published a list of its direct company holdings. The ministry emphasized that according to the applicable regulations of the federal government on financial transactions, holding shares in companies is permitted. According to these regulations, there are also no reporting requirements for direct holdings. “Nevertheless, we ensure transparency here and publish the company investments of State Secretary Udo Philipp.”

The official has shares in four startups: 4.1 percent in Africa GreenTec in Hainburg, 13.6 percent in LMP in France, 5.1 percent in CSP in Großköllnbach and 8.3 percent in the MST Group in Munich. These four holdings already existed when Philipp took office, the ministry said. He has not been active in any company since 2019 and has no influence on their business policy. The shares would be managed by third parties.

The company Africa GreenTec has received two grants in the business area of ​​the Federal Ministry of Economics. State Secretary Philipp was not involved in the funding decisions. The decisions were made via the project sponsors or the specialist level of the ministry; in one project they also came from the past legislature.

Criticism from Union and FDP

According to the ministry, Philipp worked as a “business angel” for the four small companies before he took office. These are mostly experienced business people who help young startups with equity, management experience and contacts. As a result, Philipp held “small minority shares without any influence on business policy”, he was neither active on the advisory board nor on the supervisory board, it said.

Philipp is responsible for digital policy, artificial intelligence, digital technologies, innovation policy and the German start-up scene at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The “Business Insider” portal reported a few days ago that Philipp was “potentially a beneficiary of the ministry’s policy, which he himself has a significant influence on”. Criticism of Philipp’s investments was expressed to the portal by the Union’s economic policy spokeswoman, Julia Klöckner, and politicians from the FDP.

Union wants to interview Graichen and Habeck

The ministry had informed “Business Insider” that the internal compliance rules “do not provide for any general reporting requirements” for individual assets and financial transactions. Therefore, Philipp’s individual investments in shares or fund investments are “not known” to the ministry, the spokeswoman said. According to research by the business portal, the ex-manager not only invested his money in the four companies, but also in private equity funds and venture capital funds. In this way, decisions by his ministry could have direct consequences for his fortune, writes “Business Insider”.

After almost three weeks of heated discussions about misconduct and conflicts of interest on the part of his Secretary of State for Energy, Patrick Graichen, Economics Minister Robert Habeck fired his close colleague on Wednesday morning. Next Wednesday, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group wants to question Habeck and actually Graichen again in a joint meeting of the committees for economics, climate protection and energy. The demand raised in parts of the Union for a committee of inquiry is still in the air.