Brandenburg's government is planning 30 million euros for consulting contracts!

Brandenburg's government is planning 30 million euros for consulting contracts!

Brandenburg's state government, consisting of the SPD and BSW, is planning to spend a total of around 30 million euros on consulting and expert contracts for 2025. This information comes from a response from Finance Minister Robert Crumbach to a request from the CDU state parliamentary group, as rbb24 reports. Crumbach put the amount into perspective by pointing out that actual spending will likely be lower. Similar sums were budgeted in the past two years, but only around 19 million euros were spent in 2024.

In the first half of 2025, 31 expert or consulting contracts have already been awarded. Particularly worth mentioning is a consulting contract from the Ministry of Agriculture, which costs 1.2 million euros and includes the support of the wolf hotline and the assessment of damage to farm animals. In addition, another consulting contract, which concerns the monitoring of certain aquatic plants, is estimated at 1.1 million euros and runs from 2025 to 2028.

Criticism of consultant expenses

The opposition in the Brandenburg state parliament expresses sharp criticism of the planned expenditure on consulting contracts. The Brandenburg Taxpayers Association points out that Brandenburg spends more on such contracts compared to other federal states. CDU MP Michael Schierack in particular questions the need to expand this “consultancy business”. He questions whether the ministries are unable to provide specialist knowledge themselves and describes the increased use of external consultants as a “substitute administration”. He also criticizes the abolition of the annual report on external expert and consultant contracts, which was intended to ensure transparency.

Finance Minister Crumbach explains that the report was abolished in order to reduce bureaucracy. However, MPs are free to request data on spending on consultants at any time. This could also be due to the debates surrounding the hearing of experts in the Budget and Finance Committee, which mdfe.brandenburg.de reports. All experts there agree that the current procedure needs to be revised.

Long-term prospects and budget development

The discussion about consulting contracts is closely linked to the state parliament's decision on the observation period for normal economic situations. Crumbach advocates choosing a period of ten years to avoid short-term fluctuations. According to the experts, state budget policy must not exacerbate a negative economic situation, and cyclical borrowing should help counteract negative developments.

All of these developments fall into a larger context that the federal government creates with the publication of consultant reports. These reports provide information about payments to advisors and are part of a searchable database accessible at fragdenstaat.de. Original documents and details on the tender methodology can also be found there, although some names of consultants have been blacked out to protect personal rights. The federal authorities aim to create transparency about consulting contracts, even if inaccuracies were discovered during the data review.