Abstract: The invention is directed to a method and an arrangement for controlling the supply of secondary air to the exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine. A method for diagnosing this arrangement is also provided. The arrangement includes an electrically operated secondary air pump which can be operated in at least two stages in dependence upon operating parameters of the engine. In this way, the supply of secondary air can be finely adapted to the actual value of the exhaust gas quantity supplied by the engine. This fine adaptation is determined by the number of stages. Resistors are switched into the current supply of the secondary air pump for the drive which has at least two stages.