Corona mask affair: Court of Auditors heavily criticizes Jens Spahn's mask procurement

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Former Health Minister Spahn, here during the Corona crisis

Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa

The Federal Audit Office sharply criticizes the procurement of masks in the Corona crisis under Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) and accuses his house of failing to process it. "The massive over-procurement of protective masks at the beginning of the corona pandemic by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) led to persistently high stocks and significant follow-up costs," says a report from the Federal Audit Office to the Bundestag's Budget Committee, which is available to SPIEGEL. “The benefit in combating the pandemic was small compared to this,” it continues.

The report makes it clear how huge the planning errors were during the crisis: of the 5.7 billion protective masks purchased, only 2 billion were distributed, 1.7 billion of them in Germany. It cannot be determined how many masks were actually used.

More than a billion masks have already been destroyed

According to the report, one thing is certain: 1.2 billion protective masks have now been destroyed, and another 1.7 billion are likely to be burned. In addition, there are almost 800 million protective masks that can still be used, for which there is no "use and distribution concept" - and which will therefore also be disposed of at some point.

The administration of the overprocured masks alone cost around 460 million euros by the end of 2023, and according to the Court of Auditors, a further 534 million will be incurred in the current year. In addition, there are, among other things, expenses for legal costs in lawsuits with suppliers, which amounted to 113 million euros last year alone.

The Federal Audit Office recognizes that in the first months of the pandemic “there was great uncertainty about the severity and course of the pandemic” and “unusual procurement methods were also allowed to be used under these conditions”. However, the Ministry of Health “overextended the exceptions,” it says in the final report. Many decisions were not made “especially in the difficult first weeks of the pandemic”.

Systematically classified as classified information

Even after the ministry internally ordered an end to all mask purchases on May 5, 2020, orders were still placed, according to the report - partly on personal instructions from Minister Spahn. Drafts of award notes were “not signed at all or signed without a date” in the ministry. According to the report, one of these notes was backdated before it was disclosed to a journalist as part of a request under the Freedom of Information Act (IFG) and later handed over to the Federal Audit Office.

To ward off further IFG inquiries, documents were apparently systematically classified as “classified information – for official use only” (VS-NfD). “This classification can be used as a reason for rejecting IFG applications without further explanation,” the auditors quote from internal correspondence. To date, the Ministry of Health does not keep any ongoing files to process the procurement of masks, they continue to criticize.

Apparently there were also chaotic conditions when it came to customs clearance for imported masks. The auditors criticize that the Ministry of Health “does not have the customs declarations submitted in its name and thus potentially to the detriment of the federal budget.” The ministry could therefore owe customs alone a mid-three-digit million amount.

The majority of the mask procurement was “ultimately of no use in combating the pandemic and therefore of no health policy value,” is the report’s devastating conclusion. Less than a third of the general protective masks and even less than a quarter of the particularly expensive particle-filtering half masks have been distributed. “Even fewer masks were actually used.” This is offset by “massive follow-up costs that continue to this day for managing excess procurement, especially for the long-term storage of unusable goods.”

The report also indirectly accuses current Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) of lacking information. “The BMG should critically examine its procurement activities during the pandemic and the follow-up measures and develop resilient and legally secure strategies for future crisis situations,” recommends the Court of Auditors.

At the same time, it suggests that the ministry should no longer be responsible in future crises: "Central procurement and provision of protective equipment by the federal government has proven to be inefficient and uneconomical," it says. "The federal level is not only technically and logistically the furthest away from the relevant recipients, but also, according to the current distribution of competences, is not responsible for local supply."

The opposition sees the report as evidence of poor continuity in the federal government. “Neither the CDU nor the SPD have so far contributed to dealing with the corona crisis,” says left-wing budget politician Gesine Lötzsch. Spahn wanted to “kill the problem with a lot of money.” »The traffic lights aren't much better. She also believes that all crises can be solved with a lot of money,” says Lötsch. "That's a costly mistake."