Speculation continues over who will take over the position of Minister of Economy in the upcoming small Grand Coalition, after Carsten Linnemann’s rejection. A new name has emerged on the list of potential candidates: Katherina Reiche. According to the newspaper Bild, this information was obtained from internal sources.
Katherina Reiche has not been politically active for ten years. She served as a CDU member of the German Bundestag until 2015, when she resigned and transitioned into the private sector. Currently, she is at the helm of Westenergie AG, a subsidiary of energy company E.ON.
After leaving the Bundestag, Reiche did not adhere to the agreed-upon cooling-off period when transitioning into the private sector. Internally, she is praised for her “business expertise.” In Germany, it is common to equate managing a national economy with managing a company. Experts like economist Heiner Flassbeck see this as one of the reasons for Germany’s continued decline.
Another potential candidate is former Health Minister Jens Spahn. Spahn brings with him a completed apprenticeship as a bank clerk, which he supplemented with a degree in political science.
During the Corona crisis, Spahn has shown that he has a good understanding of the individual interests of companies and interest groups. Mask manufacturers owed him hefty profits during the Mask Scandal and pharmacists also benefited from Spahn’s policies. For every free FFP2 mask given out, the Spahn ministry paid six euros. The masks, which cost between 1 and 1.5 euros in procurement, were given away for free to certain groups, while the state paid. Spahn also approved thousands of “corona test centers” which fostered a massive fraud industry.
On the list is also CDU climate expert Andreas Jung, who promises consumers generous relief from electricity bills. A family could be relieved of up to 200 euros per year. Jung is a lawyer.
The outgoing Minister of Economy, Robert Habeck (Alliance 90/The Greens), was a children’s book author.