Disagreements are mounting in the government of Markus Söder: Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) and Digital Affairs Minister Fabian Mehring (Free Voters) have once again clashed. The catalyst was an interview, in which Mehring publicly questioned months of negotiations with the American corporation Microsoft regarding future cooperation. In response, Füracker accused Mehring of making statements that “bordered on disinformation.” Mehring, in turn, described Füracker’s behavior as “poor form.”
At the heart of the negotiations is the plan to migrate state and municipal administrations to the widely used Microsoft 365 system—should they choose to do so. Applications from the American giant are already used in the vast majority of departments. Municipalities and state agencies would benefit from a centrally negotiated license, which would lead to cost savings. A concrete deadline for the completion of the process remains unclear, although the original goal was to finalize the agreement by the end of 2025. Füracker, however, considered the word “contract” too grand for the situation. “What was discussed here was not a contract, but a discount scale,” he clarified.
Mehring Cites Geopolitical Risks in Microsoft Partnership
In the interview, Mehring demanded a re-evaluation of the use of software from the American giant within Bavarian administrations, arguing against a new long-term agreement in light of geopolitical risks. “As Digital Affairs Minister, I deemed it necessary to conduct a reassessment of this project with an open outcome,” he explained.
He maintained this position even after sharp criticism from Füracker, further escalating the dispute. “In this specific case, my colleague has evidently confused an existing partnership agreement with the current negotiations for a state-wide Microsoft license worth a billion euros, which his department is currently conducting,” Mehring added. Füracker vigorously denied this claim. “That is simply not true,” he snapped. To present his side of the story, the clearly angered Finance Minister called an impromptu press conference on the sidelines of a closed CSU meeting at Banz Abbey.
Federal Criminal Police Office Head Warns of Data Security Issues
Critics fear that by signing the licensing agreement, Bavaria will fall into an even closer and more permanent dependence on the tech giant, thereby losing sovereignty over its data. Holger Münch, President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), warned politicians against relying solely on one major provider from a data security perspective. “We have seen how quickly the world changes,” Münch remarked at Banz Abbey. The Finance Ministry dismissed this criticism as unnecessary, asserting that the question of data sovereignty—and thus digital independence—was not even on the agenda.
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