EITI in Germany

Composition of the MSG

Requirement 1.4 of the EITI Standard provides for an independent multi-stakeholder group to steer and oversee the national implementation of the initiative and to balance the interests of the most important stakeholder groups in the German extractive sector. Decisions of the MSG should be made by consensus.

The MSG must be composed of appropriate stakeholders, including but not limited to:

• Representatives of relevant government bodies (authorities, including parliamentarians)
• Representatives from the private sector (e.g., companies and business associations from the extractive sector as well as chambers of industry and commerce)
• Civil society representatives (including independent civil society groups, other civil society representatives and individuals related to the extractive sector)

Important! Civil society involved in EITI must be independent from government and/or companies, both operationally and politically.
The MSG ensures appropriate representation of the three stakeholder groups and reports to the extended stakeholder groups.
In accordance with standard requirement 1.4, the members of the respective stakeholder group ensure that the interests of the entire stakeholder group are included in the multi-stakeholder process in addition to the interests of their own organization, institution, or company.

Each stakeholder group must have the right to nominate its own representatives independently of the other stakeholder groups. The aim must be to achieve pluralistic and diverse representation. Representatives should be appointed based on open, fair, and transparent procedures.
The MSG and the individual stakeholder groups must also ensure a balanced gender ratio in their representation in order to achieve progress towards gender parity.

The process for appointing new MSG members is defined in the rules of procedure of the MSG (see § 2 No. 2, 3):

Members are appointed by the Federal Government for a period of at least two (2) years. To maintain the MSG’s ability to work, the principle of continuity of persons applies. If a member leaves prematurely, the successor is appointed by the Special Representative of the Federal Government for the Implementation of the EITI in Germany (D-EITI) on the recommendation of the respective stakeholder group.

The stakeholder groups nominate their representatives to the MSG in an independent, open process and ensure their representativeness. This means that the stakeholder groups select their members themselves in their own internal nomination processes.

• Among the government representatives, two seats are held by the federal ministries. The federal states are to be represented with up to three seats, including one representative each from the economic ministries of the federal states, the finance ministries of the federal states and the mining authorities of the federal states (at the proposal of the Länder Committee for Mining (Länderausschuss Bergbau) on behalf of the Conference of Economics Ministers (Wirtschaftsministerkonferenz). The representatives of the federal states in the MSG are mandated by the Federal-Länder Working Group (Bund-Länder-Arbeitsgemeinschaft) on the D-EITI in accordance with its rules of procedure. The selection of persons for the respective representations is based on the internal organization in the government agencies that are responsible for D-EITI-relevant topics due to legal regulations.
• In the private sector, membership follows the call of the respective industry associations. The associations request participation from the companies. Interested companies contact their respective industry association, which then forwards the expression of interest to the private sector stakeholder group in the D-EITI MSG. The aim is to ensure that each sector is represented by at least one company. Each company and association responsible for sending MSG members ensures the continuous representation of the organization. The decision on the selection of new members lies with the responsible associations and companies.
• The selection of civil society organizations was based on a broad representation of all topics relevant to raw materials policy. This includes organizations dealing with issues such as transparency, accountability, open government and data, environment, development, labour, and social issues. For civil society, each organization that sends MSG members ensures the continuous representation of the organization. The organizations themselves determine who they would like to send as their representatives to the working group. If civil society organizations are interested in participation in the D-EITI, they can contact the civil society representatives.

The stakeholder groups consider the diversity of their members, including gender equality, in the internal nomination processes to ensure that membership reflects the changing nature of the extractive sector and the requirements of the EITI Standard at all times (Section 1.4 EITI Standard, § 2 (3) of the MSG’s Rules of Procedure).
All members of the D-EITI MSG are subject to the EITI Association Code of Conduct.

Contact us

Are you interested in joining the D-EITI MSG?

Please contact the D-EITI Secretariat, which coordinates inquiries and establishes contact with the interest groups represented in the MSG.