Money that was intended to cushion the consequences of Corona but was not needed could now be used for climate protection. Germany’s highest court is examining whether this is constitutional.
The Federal Constitutional Court has considered whether the federal government may use funds intended to combat the Corona crisis for climate protection. “We have a tough program ahead of us,” said the chairwoman of the Second Senate, Doris König, at the beginning of the hearing in Karlsruhe.
Among other things, it is about the connection between an emergency situation and additional money as well as the requirement to decide on changes in the budget before the end of the respective year. A decision is not expected for some time.
Due to the emergency situation during the corona pandemic, the federal government had subsequently increased the 2021 budget by 60 billion euros in the form of a credit authorization. In the end the money was not needed.
The federal government consisting of SPD, Greens and FDP therefore wants to use the money for the so-called climate and transformation fund. With the approval of the Bundestag in 2022, she had shifted it retrospectively. 197 MPs from the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag complained because, in their view, the debt brake was being circumvented in this way.
Different opinions
The deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Mathias Middelberg, said that the debt brake is also about sustainability – so that future generations can take action, for example in the fight against climate change. The debt brake needs a real braking effect, so that storage funds are not repeatedly created and uses are changed.
Werner Gatzer, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, countered that the corona pandemic was an exceptional emergency situation. The economy has weakened, and private investments should have been initiated. When the debt brake was developed, such exceptions were taken into account.
In an urgent decision in November, the highest German court gave the green light – also with a view to consumers. Because if the whole thing were stopped, but later turned out to be constitutional, the damage would be great, for example in the form of electricity price increases, it was said in justification.
Otherwise – if everything goes as planned – the federal budget would be burdened with a maximum of 60 billion euros. It can be assumed that this sum will not be exhausted until the decision in the main case has been made, the court had announced.
At the same time, however, it noted that this budget change could well have violated constitutional requirements for emergency borrowing by the federal government. The Karlsruhe judges now want to take a closer look at this.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
