Former Minister Spahn is under pressure because of the procurement methods for masks during the Corona crisis.

BSW head Sahra Wagenknecht criticized the planned review of the coronavirus policy in parliament as inadequate. The proposed commission of inquiry in the Bundestag is "poor window-dressing politics that is nowhere near sufficient to address the coronavirus period," she told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

"It's not just about the mask swindling, for which Jens Spahn must be held accountable," Wagenknecht said, referring to then-Federal Health Minister Spahn (CDU). "Far more serious mistakes were made – including unprecedented injustice." The lockdowns in many areas were "grossly excessive." The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) does not have a seat in the Bundestag – it narrowly missed a seat in the federal election in February.

On Wednesday, a motion by the coalition factions of the CDU/CSU and SPD is to be introduced to parliament with the aim of establishing a commission of inquiry to address the pandemic. The commission will initially be deliberated in committees. The establishment of the commission was already announced in the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU, and SPD. Unlike a committee of inquiry, such commissions are more likely to be designed for consensus. They consist of members of parliament and experts from academia and practice. The final report, often with recommendations for legislation, is produced.

In addition, the Bundestag will address the controversial approach to procuring protective masks at high prices during the coronavirus crisis on Wednesday. Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) and then-Minister Spahn are expected to appear in the Budget Committee. The report concerns a report by special investigator Margaretha Sudhof, who was appointed by Warken's predecessor, Karl Lauterbach (SPD), in 2024. She was tasked with investigating Spahn's actions at the time regarding mask purchases and dealings with logistics companies.

According to the special investigator's report, Spahn, as Minister of Health, engaged in large-scale procurement of protective masks during the coronavirus crisis "against the advice of his specialist departments." Spahn's decision to handle the procurement alone continues to entail "considerable costs and risks," the report states. The Ministry of Health, under current department head Warken (CDU), distanced itself from the special report. Spahn is now head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

Green Party deputy parliamentary group leader Andreas Audretsch accused Spahn and Warken of a lack of willingness to provide information. "Jens Spahn and Nina Warken shy away from transparency and clarification like the devil avoids holy water," Audretsch told the Funke Media Group newspapers. Regarding the special representative's report, he criticized: "Five pages are completely blacked out, seven more are only half-readable, and the footnotes on a large portion of the pages are completely obscured. Especially in the chapters on direct contracts with individual companies." Yet this is precisely where transparency is needed.

The procurement of masks will also be the subject of a current affairs debate in the plenary session of the Bundestag on Wednesday afternoon, which was requested by the Left Party faction.

Klaus Holetschek, the current CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bavarian state parliament, said the criticism of Spahn's mask procurement was "fatalistic and deceitful" in the way it was presented. The former state health minister told the "Münchner Merkur" newspaper that he was "incredibly" upset by the way those who had to make courageous decisions during the crisis were treated in retrospect. "The same people who are now acting as moral authorities would have raised their fingers if the procurement had been too hesitant," Holetschek said.

Spahn had justified his actions at the time. However, he welcomed the planned establishment of an inquiry commission. "The investigation into the pandemic should have begun long ago," he told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. "The inquiry commission will examine the issue in its entirety; only then can meaningful lessons be drawn for the future," the CDU politician said. "We were ill-prepared for the pandemic," he admitted. "This led to avoidable mistakes."