Politics, economy and health
On 14.05.2023, our CEO Eckhard Moos had the pleasure of welcoming Chantal Kopf, the directly elected member of the Bundestag for the Green Party in Freiburg, to Kern AG. The occasion was an exchange about the sometimes existentially stressful situation of people with chronic fatigue syndrome ME/CFS. Ms. Kopf supports her parliamentary group in political decision-making by recording the situation on the ground and passing it on to the Green expert and fellow MP on the Health Committee. Mr. Moos reported on behalf of a family friend about the terrible fate of their 21-year-old daughter, who has ME/CFS and is lying in bed in a darkened, cooled room, shielded from all environmental influences, fearing for her future. Recently, an article was also published in the Badische Zeitung about another serious case of ME/CFS. Ms. Kopf emphasized that the Greens in the Bundestag strongly and resolutely support direct help for those affected as well as investment in research and development and that there is cross-party cooperation for this.
To understand the size and importance of the task, it is important to know that those affected and their families have so far been completely lost in the German healthcare system because ME/CFS is not on any of the lists of “serious illnesses” recognized by the medical profession, health insurance companies and other professional organizations. The parliamentary groups in the German Bundestag are taking action against this deplorable state of affairs and are working together to find a solution that gives those affected hope and paves the way back to life. In a cross-party initiative led by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, expert hearings were held in the Health Committee, among others. An initial resolution has now been submitted to the German Bundestag for a vote.
Ms. Kopf, Member of the German Bundestag, and our CEO Mr. Moos discussed the processes and quality of opinion-forming and decision-making in the German Bundestag. The members of parliament from the centrist parties, CDU/CSU, FDP, Greens and SPD, work together in a very collegial manner and predominantly follow the guiding principle of the political mandate as a vocation. This professional interest and the visible personal commitment of Ms. Kopf have shown in an exemplary manner that parliament is indeed a place where good, strong solutions for the state and society are pushed for. Members of Parliament are guided in their work by their personal experiences and convictions, are guided by political principles and strive for sustainable results for the common good. In this best sense, they are political entrepreneurs who, however - according to the assessment of our CEO, Mr. Moos - are poorly paid in relation to the commitment of personal time, the loss of quality of life due to public criticism or even open hostility and social responsibility.
After this digression into motivation and stress as part of political responsibility, Ms. Kopf and Mr. Moos went on to talk about an invigorating phenomenon in the political scene: Individual experiences, fundamental and evolved convictions can certainly be at odds with the political color theory of the prevailing opinion in the party and parliamentary group. Significantly, it was important to Ms. Kopf to find out what the German Bundestag can substantially contribute to strengthening the economy and companies beyond the distribution of money. Together with her colleagues on the Economic Affairs Committee, Ms. Kopf is committed to improving the architecture of regulations, rules and bureaucracy, for example. In this context, she inquired about experiences with public sector tenders as an example and took up a suggestion from Mr. Moos with clear interest.
Mr. Moos was impressed by the extent to which Ms. Kopf was able to engage with her counterpart by listening openly, how reflectively and results-oriented she processed new content while maintaining her focus on the common good in a friendly and determined manner. For this reason alone, the meeting with Ms. Kopf was a gain. It is impossible to say whether the conversation will have political consequences, but the content is definitely in good hands with Ms. Kopf.