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The Free University (FU) in Berlin is likely to refuse the doctorate to the CDU member of the Bundestag Frank Steffel. A panel of four members for the review of the dissertation decided by majority to withdraw the doctorate "due to errors in the quote," said the legal department of the University of the CDU politician with.
This decision is not final decide on the management of the university on the suggestion of the test committee, communicated a FU-Sprecher. "We are counting on a conclusion of procedure before the start of the winter session."
Steffel was surprised at this decision.Already on April 27 this year. confirmed in writing, "that in my dissertation I have documented all the takeovers."
The Christian Democrat, who is also president of the CDU Reinickendorf, wants to sue against the decision of the university if the doctorate is withdrawn expecting a long-term legal dispute, "he said. declared Monday However, he only wants to "actively pursue" his doctorate after successfully concluding the legal dispute with the FU.
The allegation of having written off several pbadages of the dissertation, with which Steffel obtained his doctorate in economics from the FU in 1999, was raised by the "plagiarism hunter" Martin Heidingsfelder at the end of May .While Steffel generally gave his sources, but disguised how much the takeover of the text was, said Heidingsfelder .. Sometimes a source reference was also completely missing.
His thesis director stands behind Steffel
The politician of the CDU considers this criticism as a The expert opinion of the famous Berlin lawyer Peter Raue. He considered that the accusation of deception was clearly refuted, which is why Raue recommended the end of the proceedings. And Raue advised Steffel to have the case settled in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The four-member commission, which has now reviewed the thesis, has accused Steffel of not having even responded to the repeated request for a personal interview.
He wrote the work in the nineties "to the best of my knowledge and belief and under the guidance of my critics," said Steffel. Even his supervisor Dietrich Winterhager had stated unequivocally that neither he nor the second expert had been deceived.
When the delegate of the CDU Bundestag completed his doctoral thesis, he was not yet 40 years old and was a medium-sized entrepreneur. The graduate businessman headed to Reinickendorf a space equipment company, which he took over from his father and sold in 2015. At the CDU Berlin, he has long been regarded as bearer of hope. Since 1991, he has been a member of the House of Representatives and took over after the resignation of Klaus Landowsky following the Berlin banking scandal. At that time, he was considered a reformer.
As the CDU's top candidate in the 2001 general election, however, he suffered a mbadive defeat against SPD candidate Klaus Wowereit. Since 2009, Steffel sits in the Bundestag and still baderts his influence in the Berlin CDU [194559008] Editorial note : In a first version of this article, it says in the title: "FU Berlin recognizes Frank Steffel the doctorate of This wording has been modified as above, according to a press release from the FU, as the university administration has not yet made a final decision.
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