Berlin For Christian Lindner (FDP) these are not good reports. On Monday, lawyers and economists will bow to a hearing in the Bundestag about the supplementary budget of the new Federal Minister of Finance. The expert opinions submitted to the budget committee in advance are sometimes devastating.
One professor ruled that it was “unconstitutional”, while another recommended that members of the Bundestag not “pass” the budget because of concerns. The Federal Audit Office also criticizes harshly in its statement. The experts are bothered by the plan of the traffic light coalition to outsmart the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law.
As one of his first official acts, Lindner has launched a supplementary budget with which he intends to set aside 60 billion euros for the coming years. Because of the Corona emergency, the grand coalition had planned record debts of 240 billion euros last year – but not all of the money is needed. Instead of taking out fewer loans, the traffic light now wants to park the majority of the unused funds in the Energy and Climate Fund (EKF) in order to finance investments in the coming years.
Behind this is the following consideration: The traffic light coalition has resolved to comply with the debt brake again from 2023. Then she will foreseeably have too little money available for all her projects. That is why it is now building large reserves in the exceptional Corona year in which the debt brake is suspended.
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“Ban on the formation of special funds overturned”
The Federal Audit Office considers this to be “constitutionally doubtful”. “By taking advantage of inflated emergency loans, the constitutional prohibition on the formation of special funds with their own credit authorization is being overturned,” says the opinion of the Court of Auditors for the budget committee.
Some law professors see it similarly in their statements.
Christoph Gröpl from Saarland University writes of “serious constitutional concerns”. And further: “I recommend that the German Bundestag not adopt this draft budget.” Like other lawyers, Gröpl points out that the debt brake has been suspended because of the pandemic, but the credit authorizations are now being used for other things.
The loans “should be used directly and promptly to deal with emergencies,” writes Kyrill-Alexander Schwarz from the University of Würzburg in his statement. Instead, the traffic light coalition does not want to use the funds for investments in climate protection until the coming years. “These are not in any internal connection with the corona pandemic, but should only be made possible financially when the opportunity arises for reasons of political opportunity by using credit authorizations,” complains law professor Schwarz.
Can federal money originally earmarked for corona aid go into the fight against climate change?
(Photo: dpa)
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Climate change is not an acute, sudden crisis, but a permanent challenge that has to be overcome with normal budget rules, believes the Federal Audit Office.
Union: “A slap in the face for the finance minister”
The opposition feels confirmed in their criticism by the statements, as the budget policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Christian Haase (CDU) says. The criticism of the Federal Audit Office weighs particularly heavily. “It is a resounding slap in the face for the FDP finance minister and the coalition,” said Haase.
The traffic light partners point out that the grand coalition has already proceeded like this: The then Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) parked 26 billion euros of unused corona loans in the EKF – with the consent of the Union.
Lindner has defended its supplementary budget. This is a powerful sign of the state’s ability to act. In addition, the debt brake will be adhered to again from 2023. Germany remains a guarantor of financial stability.
The Federal Ministry of Finance believes that the reserves are important so that drastic cuts are not immediately necessary after the exceptional situation. The ministry emphasizes that the reserve will be used up within two or three years, so it will not be used for the long-term financing of other projects. It is about overcoming the consequences of the economic pandemic.
Economists consider the traffic light approach to be the right one
Many economists among the experts interviewed by the Committee on Budgets share this view. You think the traffic light approach is correct. “This line of argument of the federal government is convincing from an economic point of view,” writes the Düsseldorf economist Jens Südekum in his statement. “In particular, the crisis reference of the reserve and its earmarking for overcoming the economic emergency are well founded.” So Südekum has no doubt that the supplementary budget is constitutional.
And after all, the Federal Finance Minister can announce good news soon when the 2021 budget is ready: Despite the 60 billion reserve, he will not need the entire 240 billion euros in loans that were once planned by the grand coalition. Since the cash situation has developed even better, it should only be just under 230 billion euros. This additional ten billion should actually be saved and not flow into the reserve.
More: The federal government wants to borrow more than 400 billion euros from investors again in 2022
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