The committee should not be lacking in material. The draft itself consists of 48 pages, twelve topic areas and a total of 185 research questions. Files, contracts, reports, test reports and internal communication should be evaluated. Witnesses should also be questioned. The focus is on the classic question for committees of inquiry: Who knew what at what point in time, and why was there no action or no intervention earlier?
The ZRE is not just about rising construction costs. According to the Senate information contained in the application, the internal audit department of the city cleaning department found violations of procurement specifications, value limits, signature powers and basic procurement principles and made 20 recommendations. In addition, costs for in-house staff and freelancers amounting to around 14 million euros recorded since 2024 are said to have initially not appeared in the project budget that was presented to the supervisory board. The committee was only informed about this in April 2026.
Anonymous tips to the Senate Chancellery?
The planned committee should also investigate two anonymous tips that were received by the Senate Chancellery in 2023 and forwarded to the environmental authority. What needs to be clarified is what content they contained, who found out about them and what tests were carried out. The former BUKEA State Councilor Michael Pollmann, who was also temporarily chairman of the city cleaning supervisory board, is said to have been commissioned by the company as a consultant for the ZRE after his departure. According to the application, around 86 hours of work were paid for a total of around 12,900 euros. The CDU wants to know who gave the order, who Pollmann actually worked for and whether there were any conflicts of interest.
At VERA II, the focus is, among other things, on project management. According to the information in the CDU application, a formalized steering group planned for 2022 in the project manual was only set up in September 2024 and convened for the first time on April 25, 2025. The calculated costs for treating one ton of sewage sludge dry matter are said to have increased from 222 euros in 2021 to 436 euros in 2024. The committee should clarify whether more economical technical solutions or external disposal have been sufficiently examined.
The ex-environmental senator could also be invited
The possible witnesses include former Environment Senator Jens Kerstan (Greens), who led the authority from 2015 to May 2025. Whether he could actually be summoned and when he could be questioned would probably depend on his state of health. The change to his successor Katharina Fegebank also fell during the period under investigation. According to the Senate, under her leadership an external project review was initiated for the ZRE and the project organization was reorganized.
Thering expressly wants to take the investigation all the way to the Senate Chancellery. “We now know that Mayor Peter Tschentscher was informed with anonymous tips,” said the CDU leader. It is still unclear to this day why “he specifically did not take countermeasures.” In view of the figures, the cost-stable construction promised by Peter Tschentscher and the SPD appears to be “a sheer mockery for the people of Hamburg”.
The request for an investigation goes beyond the anonymous tips. It should also clarify what responsibilities the mayor had within the scope of his authority to make directives and to manage Senate business. The aim is to investigate whether the size and financial scope of the projects should have been a reason for Tschentscher or the entire Senate to intervene, regardless of individual warnings.
The Left wants to support the CDU proposal
Whether the PUA comes into being does not depend solely on the CDU. The group is six votes short of achieving the necessary quorum on its own. According to Thering, he spoke to the left-wing parliamentary group leader Heike Sudmann on Tuesday morning. He then explained that his impression was that the Left “is fundamentally willing to jointly launch such a parliamentary committee of inquiry.” The specific design and task of the investigation still need to be discussed. He did not speak to the AfD.
And that morning the left reported via press release. The group will agree to the PUA. It is the opposition's duty to clarify possible failures by the authorities, says Stephan Jersch, environmental policy spokesman for the Left Party: "We had a long line of patience and brought up the possibility of a committee of inquiry right from the start of the inspection of the files. The inspection of the files showed that a lot of questions remained unanswered and the processing of the events behind closed doors has not yet achieved a satisfactory result."
Support from outside parliament came from the Taxpayers' Association, which had already called for clarification in recent months. The association demands a complete explanation of the causes, clear responsibilities and concrete consequences. "Anyone who spends public money is accountable to the public. Whether information is disclosed should not depend on how persistently the parliament, the media or we ask," said the association's head Sascha Mummenhoff.
Long history of committees of inquiry
The constellation is reminiscent of the Cum-Ex Committee that the CDU and the Left launched together. This initially dealt with the Hamburg tax administration's dealings with Warburg Bank and was later expanded to include the cum-ex transactions of the former HSH Nordbank.
Committees of inquiry have a tradition in Hamburg in major financial and construction affairs. The citizens have been dealing with HSH Nordbank and its billion-dollar risks for years. The cost development and contract structure of the Elbphilharmonie were also examined by parliament. They hardly deliver quick results. But they have options that petty inquiries and regular committee meetings do not.
