Happy New Year? For many entrepreneurs and the self-employed, 2021 begins as unhappy as the previous year ended. Because with the new resolutions by the federal and state governments, the shutdown is being extended – and with it the massive losses that many companies suffered in the past year. This makes the question of when those affected can hope for support and whether the help that has been decided so far is all the more pressing.
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Several support programs are currently running (see grafic). On the one hand, the so-called November and December aid. Companies that were directly or indirectly affected by the closings at the end of the year receive 75 percent of their sales reimbursed through them. On the other hand, the bridging aid III. They are used to reimburse fixed costs such as rent if companies, self-employed people or freelancers are affected by closings or suffer a drop in sales of at least 40 percent.
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Bridging Aid III can amount to up to 500,000 euros, the total costs of November and December aid amount to around 30 billion euros. Imposing sums, but the large amount of money reaches those affected with a long delay. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, funds from December aid were paid out for the first time on Tuesday.
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No wonder, after all, the funds could only be applied for since December 23, the November aid since November 25. In addition, these are initially only advances on the total amount because the EU has not yet approved the aid. According to the new resolution of the federal and state governments, the full payment of the November aid should take place “by January 10, 2021 at the latest”. Payments on account are also planned for Bridging Aid III, the first regular payments should be made according to the resolution “in the first quarter of 2021”. The shutdowns come much faster than the help.
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That does not fit with the “bazooka” conjured up by Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the motto “Don’t mess, but mess”, which Federal Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) issued for the aid. “While many people are still waiting for the November aid, the December aid is only starting up slowly,” criticized the FDP economic politician Reinhard Houben. The chief economist of the Federal Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Hans-Jürgen Völz, described the start of the December aid as a “first ray of hope”, but preceded by “urging for quick disbursement of the liquidity urgently needed by companies”.
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Waiting for Brussels
But why does the payout take so long? In Berlin they also refer to Brussels on this question. The reimbursement of sales for larger sums still has to be approved by the EU Commission because it was a new system. According to SPIEGEL information, the applications for this from the Ministry of Economic Affairs were only received by the Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager on December 23.
In Peter Altmaier’s ministry, however, a largely positive answer is expected by the middle of the month. The preliminary talks were very amicable, according to the federal government. Problems could most likely arise with a category that was added late: so-called indirectly companies indirectly affected. These must make at least 80 percent of their sales with indirectly affected companies, which in turn make 80 percent of their sales with those directly affected by the closings. That could be a DJ who works for an event company that makes its living primarily from hotels.
But not only the EU bureaucracy caused delays, but also the programming of the software to apply for aid. And while companies are still waiting for help for the previous year, the question of how things should continue in the coming months has long arisen. After all, the shutdown could be extended and tightened several times.
The federal government does not currently assume that further aid instruments will have to be set up after the shutdown has been extended. “They should run until the summer,” says Bridging Aids III, “new instruments are not necessary”. The officials still have to do with administratively getting the new program off the ground anyway. Here, too, problems with state aid law could have to be resolved with Brussels. To do this, however, the corresponding regulation must first be completed, which is still being feverishly worked on.
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But suggestions for improvements are already being made. For example, the state should consider whether “in the event of a lengthy lockdown,” said Sebastian Dullien, director of the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK). He also suggested that commercial landlords should participate more in the costs of the crisis. There was already a corresponding debate during the lockdown in spring – also because corporations like Adidas had temporarily stopped paying shop rents. The government had decided on a termination moratorium at the time, but the rental debts have so far had to be paid back.
Another lever could be the short-time work allowance, which was already expanded during the corona crisis. Guido Zeitler, head of the food-pleasure-restaurants union, called for an increase in his branch in the “Handelsblatt” in the event of a lengthy shutdown. “Their wages are often much too low anyway,” Zeitler said in the “Handelsblatt” about the employees in the catering trade. “The even lower short-time allowance is not enough in the back and front.” Linken boss Bernd Riexinger called for the short-time allowance to be increased to 90 percent – so far it has been a maximum of 80 percent.
The government officials will continue to be employed to provide help for individual industries. The CSU is currently lobbying for the concerns of brewery restaurants – i.e. bars that are operated directly by breweries. It is also still open from which pot the manufacturers of fireworks are to be compensated. Because the New Year’s gluttony was banned, they were left with their production for 2020 – definitely not a happy start to the new year.
With material from dpa
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