old white mens forgetfullness

animeyfied picture of Andreas Scheuer, 2024

Another personification of the term “memory gap” is the former German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer of the Christian Social Union (CSU). In 2020, he initially managed to keep several meetings with high-ranking company representatives who were supposed to implement his pet project, the introduction of tolls for foreign car drivers on German freeways, secret from parliament. However, these meetings later became relevant because at least at one of these meetings, the industry/business representatives pointed out to him a pending ruling by the European Supreme Court, the outcome of which would make the whole project impossible and a premature start a very unreasonable action. The potential operators unanimously stated in official hearings of the Committee of Inquiry that they had offered the Minister to postpone the decision until after the verdict. However, the minister categorically rejected this, citing the political circumstance that this project had to be tackled before the 2021 Bundestag elections (whatever the cost). It ended as it must in such cases. The contracts worth billions were placed, the ECJ issued a negative ruling shortly afterwards and the contracts had to be annulled. The damages that the contractors were now able to claim from the German state amounted to 243 million euros. And Andreas Scheuer? With the best will in the world, he cannot remember receiving an offer from the companies themselves to postpone the contracts. His top state secretary, who is nicknamed Mr. Maut in the ministry and who was involved in the negotiations, can't remember either. It's funny (not funny) that the contractors remember things credibly and the representatives of the ministry (first and foremost the minister responsible) refer to gaps in their memory. The new twist on amnesia framing: neither of them can rule out that something like this was said, but they can't remember it. I ask myself what to make of political personnel who, as conservative representatives of morality and economic competence, disregard the simplest legal and economic rules of reason for their re-election and then pretend that it is impossible to remember what happened. Incidentally, Andreas Scheuer was able to recall in another interview that he had paid back a private invoice (for the private use of e-scooters, of all things) that was wrongly billed via the ministry. He could remember the exact amount: it was an invoice for EUR 69.90. This minor detail came to light in the context of another committee of inquiry (in this case of the Bavarian state parliament) in which Scheuer played an important role. The expansion of the so-called Stammstrecke 2 was originally supposed to cost 3.8 billion euros, but it later emerged that the costs had already exceeded seven billion and were expected to rise to 14 billion. The transport minister responsible, Mr. Scheuer, cannot remember a warning from the Federal Audit Office. Conclusion: Scheuer's memory fails at 243 million. However, he can remember 69.90 for years.