New members appointed to the Specialist Group for Regulatory Issues (WAR)
Year of issue 2026
Date of issue 2026.02.26
The Bundesnetzagentur has appointed Professor Jan Krämer, Professor Indra Spiecker gen. Döhmann and Professor Heike Wetzel to the Specialist Group for Regulatory Issues (WAR).
"I am delighted that we have been able to gain the services of these three proven experts in their fields and will be working together with them. With their scientific expertise, they will significantly strengthen the group’s competence, particularly in the area of digital transformation processes,"
said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur.
"The wealth of experience they bring comes at a time when the challenges facing the Bundesnetzagentur are growing, and thus also the challenges for those of us in the WAR. Hence Heike Wetzel’s energy expertise will be of great assistance in the further critical evaluation of the Bundesnetzagentur’s work, for example following our recent opinion on the future regulation of electricity and gas networks. Indra Spiecker and Jan Krämer will be able to assist us in advising the Bundesnetzagentur more broadly with respect to its diverse range of new tasks in the digital area. We are looking forward to them joining us in our work,"
added Professor Jürgen Kühling, Chair of the WAR.
Jan Krämer is a professor of business informatics and has held the Chair of Internet and Telecommunications Business at the University of Passau since 2014. His areas of research include economic regulation of telecommunications and internet markets, digital platforms and AI, and data-driven business models and their ecosystems. He regularly advises national and international regulatory authorities as well as the European Commission.
Heike Wetzel is a professor of microeconomics and empirical energy economics at the University of Kassel. Previously she was an assistant professor for Energy Economics at the Institute of Economics at the University of Kassel and an affiliated researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne and was scientific director of the Decentralised Energy Markets at the Institute for Decentralised Energy Technologies in Kassel. Her research has focused on the analysis of consumer behaviour, market design and the regulation of energy systems.
Indra Spiecker holds the Chair for Public Law, Information Rights and Legal Theory and is also the Director of the Institute for Digitalization at the University of Cologne. Her research covers all aspect of constitutional and administrative law, including interdisciplinary findings from economics, behavioural sciences and technology. Her focus is on digitalisation, IT security and data protection law. She regularly advises the federal government, federal states, local authorities, NGOs and companies, both domestic and international, on a wide range of issues.
Background
The Specialist Group for Regulatory Issues (WAR) is an independent, interdisciplinary committee of experts that advises the Bundesnetzagentur on general regulatory issues. It comprises scientific experts from various disciplines who are able to provide a critical evaluation of the legal, economic and technical aspects of regulation and who make their expertise available in publicly accessible opinions. The specialist group provides analyses and recommendations with a scientific basis, which are of great importance in developing regulation in the fields of energy, telecommunications, post and transport. Information on the WAR’s work can be found at www.bundesnetzagentur.de/700028.