Union sees budget as a new trap
Ampel wants to examine all 29 special funds
November 17, 2023, 6:00 p.m
After the Federal Constitutional Court declared the climate fund invalid, the traffic light also wants to check the legality of the other 29 special funds. However, the Union sees another trap: the 2024 budget is also unconstitutional.
After the Karlsruhe budget ruling, the federal government wants to examine all so-called special funds for possible consequences. The ruling has far greater implications beyond the specific case, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin. Each individual special fund should be looked at to see whether the judgment also has to be applied to it. This test will take some time. The aim is to gain clarity about the extent to which changes might need to occur.
Special funds are economically independent secondary households from which long-term investments are often financed. There are 29 special funds, including the Economic Stabilization Fund. On Wednesday, the Federal Constitutional Court declared a reallocation of loans worth 60 billion euros in the 2021 budget to be null and void. They were approved to deal with the Corona crisis, but should be used for climate protection and the modernization of the economy. Now the billions are not available.
It is unclear to what extent the ruling could have consequences for the handling of debt-financed special funds at the federal and state levels. Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz had announced that after the verdict, the economic stabilization fund, from which the energy price brakes would also be paid, would be examined for constitutionality. The CDU leader said on Thursday evening on ZDF that he is expecting the first results of a legal report he commissioned at the end of next week and the beginning of the week after next. On this basis, the Union wants to decide whether, after filing a lawsuit against the reallocation of the loans, it will also go to Karlsruhe against this fund.
Union sees budget 2024 as unconstitutional
Regardless of the assessment of various special funds, according to the Union, there is a risk of a further breach of the constitution when the budget is passed. The consequences of the Karlsruhe ruling on the climate fund have not yet been finally clarified, but the traffic light factions still wanted to decide on the budget for 2024, criticized budget keeper Christian Haase in Berlin. “They’re basically walking straight into the next trap. In our opinion, if nothing changes, the next budget will be unconstitutional.”
In the so-called adjustment meeting, the traffic light factions did not decide on savings, but rather “took another big sip from the bottle”. “We added up that yesterday the traffic light decided on 32.5 billion more expenses,” said Haase. How this should be financed in view of the judgment is questionable. The Federal Constitutional Court had “virtually pulled the legs out from under the budget”.