The Federal Minister of Economics wants to protect his employees from excessive mental stress in the energy crisis.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin At the end of last week, the Federal Ministry of Economics sent a 13-page overview of laws and regulations from the Ministry’s area of responsibility without being asked: These were passed in the Federal Cabinet between January and mid-September 2022.
The list includes 21 laws and 26 sub-statutory ordinances and orders. Of these, “15 laws alone and ten ordinances or sub-statutory measures” can be assigned to the energy sector. The message is easy to read: Look, we’re working at full steam, producing laws like an assembly line.
In fact, the house of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) is at the center of the energy supply crisis: threatening shortages, skyrocketing prices and faltering gas importers determine action. It felt like you had to keep seven balls in the air all the time, one official says.
The fact that the exceptional situation that has been going on for months is putting the officials of the ministry to the test is not lost on Habeck and his management team. On Thursday last week, he summed up the problem at the BDI climate conference: “People are getting sick. They have burnout, they get tinnitus. They can’t do it anymore,” said Habeck.
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Frantic bailouts and laws in need of repair
It’s always the same people who make the laws because that’s the way the house is built. The tourism department cannot design the electricity market.
Habeck stands in front of his employees, he sends out the signal that in these times of hectic rescue operations, difficult nationalizations and complex coordination processes, things can go wrong and laws that have just been passed need to be repaired again. Because they are not perfectly crafted. Or sometimes because events are overflowing.
But how is Habeck’s commitment to his own people in the ministry? Contrary to expectations, the echo is not consistently positive. Many people wonder whether it isn’t the minister and his troops who are overwhelmed.
In difficult times, many people work at the limit of their ability – it always moves between great motivation and grueling stress, says a ministerial who does not want to be named.
The actually “bad point” is as follows: In the federal administration, everyone in crisis situations always worked close to the limit. That applied to the people in the Federal Ministry of Finance during the financial crisis, to the interior department during the refugee crisis and to almost all departments under Corona.
“The energy crisis is not the first crisis, but Robert Habeck is the first time in government responsibility in the federal government. From the opposition role, it is always easy to state that not enough is happening, but as soon as Habeck is responsible himself, he refers to the overload situation.
“It’s no different than in other crises. If you want to become chancellor, you have to be able to control and administrate it,” the ministeriale continues.
Restructuring in the Ministry of Economic Affairs should remedy the situation
In organizational terms, Habeck is tackling it. A day after his appearance at the BDI, his ministry announced a restructuring: A new department for energy security and economic stabilization will be set up. This should create new synergies and concentrate tasks more, said a ministry spokeswoman.
In combating the energy and economic crisis, the “clout” should be upheld and strengthened.
The new department is to be headed by Philipp Steinberg, who previously headed Department I Economic Policy. In this role, Steinberg was already responsible for stabilization measures at companies such as Uniper and Lufthansa; he is therefore practiced in complex rescue operations with high stakes in the billions.
According to the house, a new department management position is not necessary because two departments have been merged. It remains to be seen whether the stress situation can be better managed with the new structure.
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