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The federal government spent at least 186.1 million euros on external consultants in the first half of the year. The pioneers in terms of investments in external advice are the Ministry of the Interior with 79.8 million euros and the Ministry of Finance with 48.2 million euros. It is followed by the Ministry of Health with 16.3 million and the Department of Transportation with 16.0 million. The Defense Ministry, on the other hand, is the only department that claims it did not spend money on consultants from January to June. The figures come from a response from the Finance Ministry to a request from the left-wing MP Matthias Höhn, which has been received by the German Press Agency.
The involvement of business consultants and other outside experts by the federal government is highly controversial. Critics believe that acquiring specialized knowledge is too expensive and, given the more than 20,000 employees in the ministries, it is not absolutely necessary. Furthermore, it is feared that it has too much influence on the government’s work. Proponents, on the other hand, promise added value in very different areas through external insight or use experts for special tasks for which permanent employees are not required.
It is not possible to compare the new figures with the same period of the previous year, as different criteria were used for registration in 2019. This also explains why the Ministry of Defense was the first in the statistics in the first half of 2019 with a € 154.9 million spent on “advisory and support services”, and this year it was the only ministry to donate € 0 during the first six months. A spokeswoman for the ministry justified it with the fact that this time, according to a definition of the budget committee, only “external advisory services” were provided, that is, no more support services.
Leftist Matthias Höhn called the Defense Ministry information “unreliable.” “The federal government is trying to mislead the public by keeping the actual consulting costs secret,” he said. He also criticized the fact that spending on outside experts was too high, especially in times of the crown pandemic. “For the federal government, outside consultants remain systemically relevant. But while nurses and cashiers only get applause, the government has continued to reward outside consultants with princely sums despite the shutdown and the economic crisis.”
In January, a Ministry of Finance survey of ministries found spending on advisory and support services of at least € 548.5 million in 2019. However, not all ministries reported figures for the full year. Only the Ministry of Education did not provide information for the 2020 semester statistics.
A parliamentary commission of inquiry has already dealt with the use of advisers in the Defense Ministry under the leadership of the current EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. These were allegations of improper order placement and nepotism. In their evaluation of the committee’s work, the FDP, Greens and Die Linke concluded that misconduct at the ministry had caused financial damage in the double-digit millions.
