Originating from Scandinavia, we have developed into one of the leading consulting firms for public affairs and strategic communication in Europe over the past 20 years. With our team consisting of former politicians, journalists, company spokespeople and experienced strategists, we offer a holistic perspective for the positioning of your company internally and externally on the German market.

Our offer to you is to understand complex topics in depth, to condense them into the actual problem and, based on this, to develop suitable creations and solutions. We implement these together with our customers.

German experts, European impact

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For more information about our services, team, and expertise, visit our German site. Learn how we can help you navigate the German and European political landscape.

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Hendrik Hagemann

Jonatan Tylsgaard Larsen

Lars d'Auchamp Scholtyssyk

Hubert Kümper

Sumin Nam

Rosa Täuber

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**Rud Pedersen Public Affairs Germany**
[Unter den Linden 32-34,
10117 Berlin](https://maps.app.goo.gl/qDsQhvQdKDKPDK357)

**Managing Partner:
Hendrik Hagemann** [hendrik.hagemann@rudpedersen.com](mailto:hendrik.hagemann@rudpedersen.com)

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**Berlin, June 17, 2025** – Rud Pedersen, the European public affairs consultancy, is expanding its Berlin presence and service portfolio with the launch of a dedicated strategic communications unit. **Nicole Heyder** and **Sarah Hoare**, two seasoned communications professionals, join from Advice Partners (part of the Grayling Group) to **establish a new communications unit** that complements Rud Pedersen’s core public affairs work. 

Nicole Heyder will serve as Managing Director of the newly established Communications Business Unit, leading the **Crisis Communications & Change cluster**. Sarah Hoare will head the **Leadership & Positioning cluster**. Together with Florian Meidenbauer, who continues to lead the **Corporate Communications & Industry Promotion cluster**, they form the firm’s new communications leadership team. 

With this move, Rud Pedersen is taking a deliberate step forward. Originally focused on political consulting, the firm is now building a fully integrated communications offering – closely tied to its existing public affairs expertise. The goal: to support clients across the entire spectrum, from political analysis to public positioning and message delivery – especially in the context of transformation, regulation, or reputational risk. 

**Hendrik Hagemann, Managing Director of Rud Pedersen Germany**, said: *"With Nicole Heyder and Sarah Hoare joining the team, we’re deliberately evolving our profile. Rud Pedersen stands for European perspective, political insight, and practical execution. With this new strategic communications offering, we can now support our clients even more comprehensively, from policy expertise to public visibility.”*

**Nicole Heyder** added: *"Thinking of communications as image-building only is yesterday’s news. I’m drawn to work that moves the needle socially, economically or politically. Rud Pedersen offers the ideal platform for that: strategic, European, and close to the centre of decision-making powers."*

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**About Rud Pedersen**
Rud Pedersen is the European consultancy for companies that aim to make an impact. With an integrated corporate affairs approach, the firm combines strategic communications and public affairs – grounded in expertise, driven by outcomes, and focused on the political context. Since 2020, Rud Pedersen has operated its own office in Berlin, advising national and international clients in regulated and publicly exposed industries. The office is part of Rud Pedersen Group, which operates out of 20 offices across Europe and includes more than 600 professionals. 

Rud Pedersen Strengthens Berlin Operations with Strategic Communications Expansion: Nicole Heyder and Sarah Hoare join as senior leaders to launch a new integrated communications unit 

Göhner will support Rud Pedersen’s team on strategic mandates, further strengthening the firm’s position as a leading consultancy for public affairs and strategic communication in Germany.
 
Göhner served as Director General of the BDA for over 20 years and was a CDU member of the Bundestag. He is a certified labor lawyer and has held several key positions, including Parliamentary State Secretary at both the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs. He also chaired the Bundestag's Committee on Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. His expertise spans labor law, political, and economic matters.
 
*"We are delighted to welcome Reinhard Göhner to our team. His vast experience will enable us to guide our clients more effectively through complex economic and regulatory challenges. His deep expertise in labor law and extensive political experience will significantly enhance our work on key mandates,"* **said Hendrik Hagemann, Managing Director of Rud Pedersen Public Affairs in Berlin**.
 
**Reinhard Göhner added:** *“I look forward to bringing my decades of experience to Rud Pedersen’s dedicated team and working together on projects that will shape not only the German economy but also important political developments.”*
 
Dr. Göhner has been a member of the National Regulatory Control Council since 2022 and a member of the supervisory board of ZDF, one of Germany’s largest public broadcasters, since 2012. His extensive legal and corporate governance experience further underscores his deep expertise in legal and economic policy matters.

Dr. Reinhard Göhner joins Rud Pedersen Public Affairs as Senior Advisor

Leading this new team is Hubert Kümper, who brings extensive experience and a deep understanding of the healthcare landscape. Hubert, along with Sascha Müller—both of whom recently joined us from the consultancy Brunswick—are joined by Cornelius Veithen and Johannes Söller. Together, they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that will significantly enhance our ability to deliver top-tier strategic counsel to our clients.

*“Our new healthcare team marks a significant milestone for Rud Pedersen in Germany,”* said **Hendrik Hagemann, Managing Partner of Rud Pedersen Germany**. *“The healthcare sector is facing unprecedented changes, and with Hubert and his team on board, we are well-positioned to help our clients navigate these complexities with agility and insight here in Germany and Europe-wide."*

**Hubert Kümper** expressed his enthusiasm about leading the team: *“I am honored to be part of Rud Pedersen during such a critical time for the healthcare industry. Our team’s combined expertise will enable us to provide unparalleled insights and solutions to our clients, helping them to not only meet but exceed their strategic objectives.”*

This new team further solidifies Rud Pedersen’s position as a leading public affairs consultancy in Germany, poised to deliver high-impact advisory services across key sectors.

For more information about our new healthcare team in Germany, please contact [hubert.kuemper@rudpedersen.com](/rud-pedersen/en/contact/germany/hubert-kuemper)

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*In photo, from left to right: Sascha Müller, Director; Hubert Kümper, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare; Johannes Söller, Associate Manager; Cornelius Veithen, Senior Consultant.*

Rud Pedersen Welcomes New Healthcare Team to Strengthen German Operations

*By: [Sumin Nam](/rud-pedersen/en/contact/germany/sumin-nam), Director & Head of Energy with Rud Pedersen Public Affairs Germany*

The upcoming European Elections are creating some uncertainties around energy policy, with a substantial rollback of measures (concerning Green Deal/fit-for-55) having the potential to be excluded due to three reasons: (1) Majorities needed to reverse regulation will be slim, (2) a lot of the regulation is currently already implemented on national level and (3) the EU procedural statutes call for certain continuity. 
 
However, case-to-case changes still can occur and might affect files that are of specific German interest:
**1. The Energy Tax Directive** has not yet been formally adopted and hence is one of the few files left of the Green Deal agenda. The main content, to account for GHG-emission intensity amongst different fuel type taxes, is considered a driver in the decarbonisation of (notably) the transport sector – a sector Germany notoriously fails to reach the emission targets in. A delay, change or revision remains on the table after the council did not reach an agreement in the past years.
**2. The ETS II, planned to go into full force in 2027**, will set a certificate price for the transport and building sector. It cannot be ruled out that a new EU COM will touch the system given the price increase and hence high burden on EU citizens. Germany, who has already earlier established a national (fixed) price system for these sectors, will watch closely how, and if, the system transmission will play out. 

**Summarising**
The calls of the (not least vocal German) industry will weigh in on the next commission’s agenda – and an “industrial deal” could hence follow that mitigates costs, reduces red tape, and ideally does not revert, but instead compliments, its green predecessor. Still, new regulation in the energy space is needed – from the EU’s 2040 emission reduction target to the potential integration of carbon removal into the emission trading system. Whatever the outcome, German, national policymakers and industrial actors will be alert.

European elections 2024 serve as a litmus test for energy policy

2023 has been – as I expected – both within RP, Germany and on the European and Global stages, a most challenging year. Uncertainty, nervosity and geopolitical and economical turmoil have kept clients as well as RP awake. The navigation, challenges, and often also surprising opportunities have helped our topline and growth be astonishingly strong, but profitability, nerves and family members have “suffered”. Thus, until the end of the year, it will be interesting if the potpourri of opportunities, challenges and “craziness” continues or if – given the looming recession in Germany – we steer into a possible Abwärtsspirale (downward spiral). For 2024 though, I hope and am optimistic, that more stability (with profitable growth) will return to markets, clients, teams and overall societies.

Politically, 2024 will be dominated by the EU and three Eastern German elections. All four events have the potential to cause turmoil in Germany and bring the Berlin Bubble “scathed” into the super-election year 2025 (don’t forget the US elections in 2024 as well). But operationally, it could be a great 15 months (starting already end of this year) for Chancellor Scholz to start with his large reforms (maybe an Agenda 2030) to write his legacy in the history books of this government term. 

Clients should be aware of the connected effects of the new EU Commission and Parliament on the German Government and legislative drive and initiatives, as both are deeply connected and dependent on Kommunizierende Röhren (communicated threads). This effect is something I cannot tell clients enough and subsequently advise, that you ideally have a foot/team/advisor in BOTH capitals/centres of gravity!

RPPA Germany 2023

The opening marks the latest step in the group’s growth into key European capitals after its successful expansion to Brussels in 2017.

“Germany is a leader in Europe for both business and politics,” said Rud Pedersen Group CEO & President Morten Rud Pedersen, “our presence in Berlin will ensure that we can deliver for our international client base in a country that drives decisions affecting business across the continent.”

The Berlin team is led by Hendrik Hagemann, a consultant with more than sixteen years of experience in advising national and international corporations, governments and associations and the public sector. “The current crisis is leading to unparalleled government activity in Germany and across Europe. Our team is ideally placed to support the political and commercial success of industries in these turbulent times.”

Lars Scholtyssyk, a former reporter for Deutsche Welle and Bloomberg News, joins the company as a Senior Consultant. Additionally, Rüdiger Lentz, currently Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Germany, will serve as a Senior Advisor.

“Our Berlin team complements the expertise of our Group across Europe,” adds Morten Rud Pedersen. “Just like the teams in our other offices, the German team works with clients from all industries, and is particularly strong in industrials, defence, finance and fast-moving consumer goods.”

If you are interested in Rud Pedersen Public Affairs Germany’s services, please contact Hendrik Hagemann. You can find more information on the Berlin office by visiting the Rud Pedersen Public Affairs Germany LinkedIn.

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