This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/04/world/europe/german-politician-business.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| German Politician’s Rush to Lobbying Brings Scorn | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| BERLIN — If there is one hallmark of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship, it is that, despite her widely acknowledged tactical prowess and skill in winning, keeping and expanding her power, she is uninterested in the material trappings of office. | BERLIN — If there is one hallmark of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship, it is that, despite her widely acknowledged tactical prowess and skill in winning, keeping and expanding her power, she is uninterested in the material trappings of office. |
| Not so, it appears, her advisers. On Friday, Ronald Pofalla, who ran Ms. Merkel’s chancellery until he surprisingly bowed out of government when she formed her new cabinet in mid-December, became the second Merkel ally in two months to leave public service for a lucrative business post. | Not so, it appears, her advisers. On Friday, Ronald Pofalla, who ran Ms. Merkel’s chancellery until he surprisingly bowed out of government when she formed her new cabinet in mid-December, became the second Merkel ally in two months to leave public service for a lucrative business post. |
| Mr. Pofalla, 54, was reported to be joining the board of Deutsche Bahn, the partly state-owned national rail network, in a specially created lobbying post said to carry compensation of more than a million euros a year. | Mr. Pofalla, 54, was reported to be joining the board of Deutsche Bahn, the partly state-owned national rail network, in a specially created lobbying post said to carry compensation of more than a million euros a year. |
| Word that Mr. Pofalla — who had previously been quoted as saying that he wanted to slow down, and perhaps start a family with his partner — appeared to think that just over two weeks was sufficient pause between the top echelons of government and business drew widespread scorn in Germany. Nongovernmental groups renewed their calls for laws imposing a far longer interval between the two. | Word that Mr. Pofalla — who had previously been quoted as saying that he wanted to slow down, and perhaps start a family with his partner — appeared to think that just over two weeks was sufficient pause between the top echelons of government and business drew widespread scorn in Germany. Nongovernmental groups renewed their calls for laws imposing a far longer interval between the two. |
| The Pofalla case, they said, was the latest demonstration of a faster-revolving door between the two sectors, and of the growing potential for business and political leaders to trade influence. Lobbying, while less intense here than in Washington or Brussels, still casts a large shadow, watchdog groups warned. | The Pofalla case, they said, was the latest demonstration of a faster-revolving door between the two sectors, and of the growing potential for business and political leaders to trade influence. Lobbying, while less intense here than in Washington or Brussels, still casts a large shadow, watchdog groups warned. |
| “For us, this is a clear signal that we quite urgently need a cooling-off period,” said Timo Lange, a spokesman for LobbyControl, an organization financed by small private donations that has been working since 2006 for regulation of lobbying. Those leaving the top ranks of government should wait three years before being able to lobby, he said, and lobbyists should be registered, as in the United States. | “For us, this is a clear signal that we quite urgently need a cooling-off period,” said Timo Lange, a spokesman for LobbyControl, an organization financed by small private donations that has been working since 2006 for regulation of lobbying. Those leaving the top ranks of government should wait three years before being able to lobby, he said, and lobbyists should be registered, as in the United States. |
| Almost worse than the speed of the transition in the Pofalla case, said Christian Homburg, the executive director of the German office of Transparency International, the anticorruption group, was that it appeared to revive an old tradition of creating lucrative jobs for long-serving politicians. His group endorsed a three-year pause. | Almost worse than the speed of the transition in the Pofalla case, said Christian Homburg, the executive director of the German office of Transparency International, the anticorruption group, was that it appeared to revive an old tradition of creating lucrative jobs for long-serving politicians. His group endorsed a three-year pause. |
| On Friday, Mr. Pofalla, who has been a conservative member of Parliament since 1990 and retains his seat, declined to comment through his office, which said he would not be at work until the end of next week. Deutsche Bahn also had no comment. The deputy spokesman for Ms. Merkel’s government, Georg Streiter, told reporters that since Mr. Pofalla had left the government, there was nothing to say. | On Friday, Mr. Pofalla, who has been a conservative member of Parliament since 1990 and retains his seat, declined to comment through his office, which said he would not be at work until the end of next week. Deutsche Bahn also had no comment. The deputy spokesman for Ms. Merkel’s government, Georg Streiter, told reporters that since Mr. Pofalla had left the government, there was nothing to say. |
| The reputation of Ms. Merkel’s government for staying out of business was called into question two months ago when a state minister in her chancellery, Eckart von Klaeden, 48, quit to join the Daimler auto company as chief lobbyist. The move had been mooted months earlier, fueling criticism that Mr. von Klaeden stayed on in government to influence successful lobbying by the German government in Brussels for less stringent emission limits on high-end cars. | The reputation of Ms. Merkel’s government for staying out of business was called into question two months ago when a state minister in her chancellery, Eckart von Klaeden, 48, quit to join the Daimler auto company as chief lobbyist. The move had been mooted months earlier, fueling criticism that Mr. von Klaeden stayed on in government to influence successful lobbying by the German government in Brussels for less stringent emission limits on high-end cars. |
| On Friday, Mr. von Klaeden, too, was lying low. His office at Daimler said he would be available only after the Epiphany holiday on Monday, celebrated throughout western Germany. | On Friday, Mr. von Klaeden, too, was lying low. His office at Daimler said he would be available only after the Epiphany holiday on Monday, celebrated throughout western Germany. |
| Claus Leggewie, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen, who specializes in lobbying and has argued for a “higher wall of separation” between business and politics, said he was more “ambivalent” about the Pofalla case. | Claus Leggewie, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen, who specializes in lobbying and has argued for a “higher wall of separation” between business and politics, said he was more “ambivalent” about the Pofalla case. |
| “On the one hand, it seems quite natural — particularly in the American and global understanding — that former high-ranking members of the administration are heading for jobs in the corporate world,” he wrote in an email. In contrast to, say, the von Klaeden case, he added, “I can see no direct corruptive elements in the Pofalla case, given that Deutsche Bundesbahn is still a partly state-owned company.” | “On the one hand, it seems quite natural — particularly in the American and global understanding — that former high-ranking members of the administration are heading for jobs in the corporate world,” he wrote in an email. In contrast to, say, the von Klaeden case, he added, “I can see no direct corruptive elements in the Pofalla case, given that Deutsche Bundesbahn is still a partly state-owned company.” |
| Speaking for the opposition Left Party, a chairwoman, Katja Kipping, demanded a law imposing a five-year gap for members of the government entering top business. An official in Mr. Pofalla’s parliamentary district told the German news agency Dpa that he had received about 50 messages from conservative voters angry that they had just cast ballots to re-elect him. | Speaking for the opposition Left Party, a chairwoman, Katja Kipping, demanded a law imposing a five-year gap for members of the government entering top business. An official in Mr. Pofalla’s parliamentary district told the German news agency Dpa that he had received about 50 messages from conservative voters angry that they had just cast ballots to re-elect him. |
| Perhaps the greatest stir about the confluence of politics and business under Ms. Merkel came when it emerged in 2009 that taxpayers had financed a 60th birthday dinner in the chancellery for the head of Deutsche Bank at the time, Josef Ackermann. Thirty guests from the top of German business reportedly attended the dinner, in April 2008. | Perhaps the greatest stir about the confluence of politics and business under Ms. Merkel came when it emerged in 2009 that taxpayers had financed a 60th birthday dinner in the chancellery for the head of Deutsche Bank at the time, Josef Ackermann. Thirty guests from the top of German business reportedly attended the dinner, in April 2008. |
| Mr. Lange, of LobbyControl, noted that Ms. Merkel had failed to push German ratification of the United Nations’ convention against corruption, which was passed in 2003. | Mr. Lange, of LobbyControl, noted that Ms. Merkel had failed to push German ratification of the United Nations’ convention against corruption, which was passed in 2003. |
| It was approved when Ms. Merkel’s predecessor, the Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder, was in office. After Ms. Merkel became chancellor in 2005, he waited just over two weeks before becoming board chairman of the conglomerate formed to build a pipeline in the Baltic Sea to ship Russian natural gas directly to Germany. | It was approved when Ms. Merkel’s predecessor, the Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder, was in office. After Ms. Merkel became chancellor in 2005, he waited just over two weeks before becoming board chairman of the conglomerate formed to build a pipeline in the Baltic Sea to ship Russian natural gas directly to Germany. |