In the AfD‑family‑affair, the Union caucus in the Bundestag wants to examine whether the Members’ Code of Conduct needs to be re‑formed.
CDU parliamentarian Hendrik Hoppenstedt, chair of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, told T‑Online: “We want to shield taxpayers from further damage and will look into how the Members’ Code can be tightened to put an end to this abuse. The AfD’s behaviour is shameless and unacceptable. Politics is not a self‑service shop”.
Earlier, SPD legal counsel Johannes Fechner had urged the Union to consider tightening the code.
Green Party spokeswoman Irene Mihalic opposed the SPD’s proposal for a stricter Members’ Code. “The Code does not regulate employment by fellow members of other parliamentary groups” she said to T‑Online. “Given the already strict existing rules, we do not currently see a need for changes, although we are of course open to proposals”. The Code already bars the hiring of family members within one’s own office.
Mihalic added that any abusive practice “as a political friendship service” is expressly disapproved. She cited the “arranged mutual hiring of family members” by individual Bundestag members or the “solely formal employment of a family member of another member”. She also expressed concerns about publishing all employees’ names, arguing that doing so might jeopardise staff safety amid rising right‑wing attacks.