A recent request filed under freedom of information laws has revealed a correspondence suggesting former Chancellor Olaf Scholz utilized his directive competence shortly before the end of his term. According to a report in the Handelsblatt, a letter from then-Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck, dated April 29, 2025, indicates Scholz requested the continued maintenance of the “gas alert” level. Habeck’s letter describes Scholz’s request and interprets it as an invocation of his directive competence, referencing a prior phone conversation on April 3, 2025.
Martin Morlok, a legal scholar from Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, has corroborated Habeck’s interpretation, stating that Scholz did indeed employ his directive competence in this instance. The gas alert was initially declared in June 2022 following reduced gas deliveries from Russia, granting special rights to secure gas supplies. Habeck had intended to discontinue the alert at the beginning of 2025, writing in his letter that the rationale for the alert had disappeared, a view he stated was shared by all experts.
The use of directive competence – a legal mechanism allowing the Chancellor to overrule other ministers – is rare in Germany’s history. Previously, only two instances are known: Konrad Adenauer’s implementation of a pension reform in 1956 and Scholz’s own decision in 2022 to extend the operation of remaining German nuclear power plants. However, the latter instance was later revealed to have been coordinated with Habeck and then-Finance Minister Christian Lindner during a parliamentary investigation committee.
Both Scholz’s office and Habeck have declined to comment on the matter. Scholz’s office referred inquiries to the Federal Press Office, which has not yet responded to requests for comment.