Hidden party donations should be made more difficult with the new regulations for the upcoming general election. But the planning stalled. A party could particularly benefit.
It was supposed to be a big step and close long-known gaps in the law, but now the transparency initiative for party financing, which has been hoped for by critics, is now a long way off: As t-online.de learned from circles in several Bundestag factions, the plans for reform are stalling. Implementation before the general election, as the SPD had plannedappears questionable. That would stand above all AfD The gray financial channels with which she and her supporters have been making headlines for years will also be available in the upcoming election campaign.
Fight against questionable methods
Above all, the new regulation should prevent cases “in which a party is supported in the election campaign, for example by posters, newspapers or websites by third parties, without this appearing in the accountability reports,” said the SPD parliamentary group vice-president at the end of the year Eva Högl to the plans. Shortly before, research by t-online.de uncovered opaque structures behind an AfD-related election newspaper in Thuringia: There, a man supposedly smuggled more than under a pseudonym 100,000 euros from a major donor unknown until today in the election campaign.
Due to numerous similar cases, associations asked to finally close the loopholes in the law: “More transparency and a cap on party financing are overdue,” said “Transparency Germany” Chairman Hartmut Bäumer to t-online.de. In the future, all donations from 2,000 euros should be made public, donations generally capped at 50,000 euros, he demanded. Acceptance of direct donations by mandate holders and candidates should be prohibited, income from sponsorship should be treated like donations.
Start quickly – “so that there will be something”
According to its own statements, the SPD wanted to take it quickly. In order to reach an agreement as broadly supported by the parties as possible, not only the coalition partner should CDU / CSU cooperate – an agreement should also be reached with all other parliamentary groups apart from the AfD. The issue ultimately affects all parties, said Högl in November. “It would therefore not be a good thing to do that only in the coalition logic.” At the beginning of 2020, the project had to be tackled in a concentrated manner “so that it would become something”.
As it turns out, however, planning at parliamentary level has not yet left the grand coalition. t-online.de learned from the opposition factions that no substantive talks had been held in the past few months on the new rules for party donations. Also, no dates have been set for this. The talks were before Corona crisis stalled within the grand coalition. No agreement was reached there. The Union faction did not want to comment on t-online.de’s request.
Another meeting was canceled
One thing is certain: the talks between the parties have not made much progress outside of the political groups since last year. According to information from t-online.de, a first meeting of the federal treasurers at the end of January has not been followed by another. Although there was a fundamental interest in a new regulation for all parties involved, it was said that it was difficult to negotiate the details. An appointment for March was finally canceled due to the corona crisis.
Now there is uncertainty as to whether the project can even be implemented before the general election. While SPD faction vice Högl remains optimistic, parts of the opposition have become skeptical – after all, the amendment to the law must be introduced into parliamentary operations before the end of the year. In the left there is also the suspicion that the grand coalition does not want to rush into funding opportunities. Because the Federal Constitutional Court still has to rule on a lawsuit against the increase in state party funding decided by the SPD and the Union.
Associations continue to demand quick action. “It would be urgent to close the transparency gaps in party financing before the general election,” said Timo Lange, a spokesman for “Lobbycontrol”. It was advisable to equip the Bundestag administration with investigative powers in order to better enforce existing rules. Or to create a public prosecutor’s office for violations of the party law. It is not clear whether the grand coalition will have the political will to do so.
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