Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU) plans to outsource core tasks of her ministry to external advisers. According to “Der Spiegel”, the cost could be at least around two million euros per year. A spokesman explained that ministry staff might not be able to fulfil the duties themselves.
The call for a “framework agreement for strategic top‑management consulting” to run the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWi) was published on 31 March, with a short application period of only 14 days. According to the performance description, the awarded firm should do more than routine consulting; it must also support the ministry in priority areas such as raw‑material security, future technologies, sovereignty, foreign‑economic security and industrial transformation.
The contract requires the consultants to produce quick‑turn analysis and discussion papers on current policy questions, as well as ad‑hoc advice, short analyses, briefings, recommendations and presentation materials. The ministry also wants extensive written outputs-strategic foundations, manuals, and documentation.
BMWi staff say that these tasks belong to the core of the ministry’s administration and include some original ministerial core duties. Delegating entire task packages to very expensive external advisers is deemed not only questionable but also a sign of distrust in the ministry’s own expertise. A former senior officer echoed this view, stating that Reiche’s willingness to outsource “classic ministerial core tasks” is highly unusual and a clear expression of mistrust toward the ministry.
A ministry spokesperson told a news magazine that the aim is to make the ministry more agile in the face of multiple crises. He stressed that the measures are unrelated to the many vacant positions that have recently been reported in the media and that the advertised services cannot be performed by ministry employees. The BMWi estimates the need for 9,000 consulting hours per year, with 60‑75 % to be supplied by partners or senior associates. At typical hourly rates of €200 to over €600, calculations by “Der Spiegel” put the minimum cost at roughly two million euros annually. The contract will run for two years, with an option to extend for another two.