The organization Lobbycontrol has criticized the new business association of the Greens. With such party-related associations, the boundaries between the party and lobby organizations would blur, said the spokeswoman for the non-governmental organization Lobbycontrol, Christina Deckwirth, the editorial network Germany (RND/Thursday). It is particularly problematic that such associations do not fall under the transparency rules of the party law.
Such organizations are not good for democracy. “Parties, as central actors in democracy, should not grant certain and already influential social groups privileged access that they do not offer to others,” criticized Deckwirth.
The Economic Association of the Greens, like any other party-affiliated business lobby organization, is a “gateway” for opaque financing of party-affiliated structures. As a further example in her fundamental criticism, the lobby control spokeswoman named the Economic Council of the CDU, a business association close to the CDU.
The new association presented on Wednesday is intended to strengthen connections from business to the Greens. “We want to build a bridge from business to politics,” said the organization’s CEO, Tom Fischer, at the opening event in Berlin. “We want to ensure that green politics becomes the engine of the economy.”
It is also about the exchange of ideas between companies, for example on sustainability issues, it said. Green leader Omid Nouripour said: “It is more than obvious that we need well-oiled hinges for the exchange of ideas.”
A party book of the Greens is not a prerequisite for membership in the trade association. The organization sees itself as independent. The two Green Party chairmen, Nouripour and Ricarda Lang, are to lead the political advisory board. (dpa)
