Economy | Socialization debate: Is it all poison?

IHK managing director Manja Schreiner (CDU) has a sense for the beautiful and fine - sometimes. Photo: dpa-Bildfunk The managing director of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), Manja Schreiner, recently made an astonishing appearance. Shortly after the Berlin election, in which the Left became the strongest party with the rent issue and socialization plans, Schreiner sat in the “Welt-TV” studio. The moderator served her questions like a ball player in volleyball. And the IHK managing director gave a party-political, polemical performance that is now normal in media democracy - at least among politicians.

She considers socialization, said Schreiner, to be “highly unfair.” “Many” are now “actually fed up”; “simple answers” ​​are “the ones that get you wrong.” A “shift to the left” would “not be good for the Berlin economy.” Socialization would “fail at the Federal Constitutional Court.” And since no one followed up or urged her to be prudential and clear, the chamber representative analyzed: "All the signals that Berlin is already sending with the debate are all poison." "We as the Berlin economy," said Schreiner, are "highly alarmed."

The appearance caused waves, the post-election campaign rhetoric seemed so inappropriate. A politician would let such an appearance pass with a shrug. The Schreiner case, however, must be weighted differently. The IHK is not just giving a bad impression here - it is also violating legal requirements. Schreiner, who belongs to the CDU and resigned as Berlin's transport senator in 2024 because of a plagiarism affair surrounding her doctoral thesis, seems overwhelmed not only as an academic and politician, but also as an official and lawyer.

The IHK is a corporation under public law, not a wild lobby organization that is allowed to express itself in any polemical way.

In order to be able to fulfill their duties responsibly, it is worth taking a look at the tasks and constitution of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The IHK is not only not a political party. It is also not a wild lobby organization that can express itself in any polemical way. The IHK is a corporation under public law. As a self-governing organization for the commercial economy, it has a wide range of tasks: it monitors training, issues certificates, conducts further training, advises start-ups, advises its members on legal issues and much more. With the exception of craft businesses, freelancers and farmers, all companies in a region are members of the IHK, and this is mandatory - critics such as the Federal Association of Independent Chambers speak of “compulsory membership”. One may find this obligation questionable. But it also brings with it special requirements for the representation of the membership. Under no circumstances can the IHK management make arbitrary and spontaneous political statements on every topic. It is referred to legal regulations and the declared will of its members. When representing political interests, it is required to express itself in a measured and concrete manner and to give all of its members a voice.

Schreiner criminally disregarded these guidelines during her appearance on “Welt-TV”. Therefore, the nd.Genossenschaft, as a member of the IHK Berlin, asked you in writing last week to refrain from making such statements in the future and to submit a cease and desist declaration. The IHK did not address this in terms of content. The matter is now before the Berlin Administrative Court: The nd.Genossenschaft has applied for an interim order to be issued in order to have the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry “cease and desist from making public statements that exceed its authority”. The IHK managing director included an astonishing number of legal guidelines in her short interview. A few should be mentioned here.

For example, the IHK managing director is not allowed to make statements on questions of fundamental importance without a resolution from the IHK general meeting. If she interprets the outcome of the Berlin election as a "shift to the left," makes a prediction about the outcome of a case before the Federal Constitutional Court or describes the democratic debate about socialization as "poison," she does so without a corresponding decision. It also speaks undifferentiatedly in the name of the “Berlin economy”, although it is obliged to also refer to differing opinions from the membership: There is a resolution of the IHK general assembly, the majority of which rejects socialization. But there were also dissenting voices and counter-speech. Paragraph 1 Paragraph 1 of the IHK Act already requires that “different positions are pointed out in the context of communication”.

The way in which the ex-politician addresses topics is not just a matter of style. With her wet rhetoric, she ignores the requirements that the Federal Administrative Court formulated in two judgments in 2020: A chamber must “exercise the highest possible level of objectivity.” And explicitly: "Polemically exaggerated statements or statements that aim at an emotionalized conflict resolution are inadmissible." Exaggerations, such as those that are part of the agenda in the political circus, "may belong to a pure representation of interests, but not to the chambers of commerce and industry organized as public bodies."

This is just a small insight into the wealth of complaints that the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry raised with a five-minute interview. The matter is now before the court. It will be interesting to see how the process continues. Until then, for fun, you can watch Manja Schreiner on the IHK's Instagram channel: In a current reel, she makes online comments about the socialization debate, which she then comments on in turn. She reads aloud: “Now there will be expropriation until the land registers glow? Honecker is giggling in the crypt again." And then agrees: "Yes, you're right. Berlin doesn’t need necromancy.”

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