Even after leaving office for life, German heads of government receive lavish grants from tax funds. That could change. The behavior of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder got the ball rolling. But there has been criticism for a long time.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has come under fire for failing to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
It is a perennial favorite not only on the tabloids: the lavish outfitting of former German heads of state and government even after the end of their term in office. Office space, employees, drivers, personal security: until now, all of this has been granted for life.
With the debate about the former chancellor and today’s lobbyist for Russian energy Gerhard Schröder, there could be enough political will for the first time to initiate fundamental new regulations. Schröder’s refusal to condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine and his continued activity for the Russian energy industry are not only a problem for Schröder’s SPD party, but also for Germany’s reputation.
No Lex Schroeder
“Discussions are currently taking place about revising the rules for the official equipment of former Chancellors,” said the parliamentary director of the Greens, Irene Mihalic, to the editorial network Germany (RND) this week. According to the Greens, this reform would also affect former Chancellor Schröder. Despite all the criticism of the former chancellor, she does not want a Lex Schröder. An arbitrary reduction in salaries is not an option in the constitutional state.
Incidentally, Schröder’s former chancellor’s office in Berlin is currently vacant. The employees, who still accounted for 407,000 euros in 2021, resigned a few days after the Russian attack began.
Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki from the FDP also calls for a general debate on the equipment of the “follow-up offices of Federal Chancellors”. He has Schröder’s successor in mind: “Therefore, the question is justified as to whether Chancellor Merkel needs an office with double equipment on a permanent basis, while there is a time limit for the higher-ranking Presidents of the Bundestag,” he told RND.
In fact, last year it caused a stir that Merkel, with nine employees including two drivers, was granted two more employees than her predecessor Schröder, who left office in 2005. In addition, the budget committee of the Bundestag decided in 2019 that the number of employees of former chancellors should be limited to five. However, these regulations do not yet apply to the former Chancellor. Merkel will also be provided with bodyguards from the Federal Criminal Police Office if the danger situation requires it, as well as a company car.
The Liberal Kubicki is not fundamentally against such equipment. According to Kubicki, senior state officials should be given special recognition after their work. “But I have my doubts as to whether this appreciation – apart from the office of Federal President – has to be valid for life.”
Greens wanted reform in 2019
As early as 2019, the Greens introduced a bill that was intended to change exactly that. Only five years after leaving office, former chancellors should be able to apply for official equipment “to fulfill ongoing official duties”. The draft law even provided for the possibility of being able to reject the application in part or in full.
This was preceded by sharp criticism from the Federal Court of Auditors. In 2018, with a view to Chancellor a. D. urgently to make a regulation for the future “that is based on the principles of regularity and economy”. But neither the Union nor the SPD were really interested in more extensive new regulations. But now the political momentum could be there. Lawyers, however, have doubts as to whether any new regulation would be retrospectively applicable to existing cases such as Schröder and Merkel.
There is no legal basis for the so-called official equipment of former German chancellors. Only resolutions and determinations of the Budget Committee are decisive here. The funds are stipulated in the annual budget law.
The German state practice began with former Chancellor Ludwig Erhard. The first Federal Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, was given a secretariat after the end of his term in 1963. But that was made available to him by his party. His successor Erhard, father of the economic miracle as Economics Minister and rather unsuccessful as Chancellor, resigned in 1966. The federal government made more extensive retirement arrangements for him, which initially contained a time limit. This was later dropped. Since 1967, therefore, the office costs for the Chancellors a. D. financed consistently and for life from the federal budget.
“Honorary pay” for life
The regulations relating to former German heads of state are even more extensive. Unlike the federal chancellors, the republican substitute monarchs are free to decide where they want to set up their offices. That of Chancellor a. D. must be in Berlin and is housed in Bundestag properties.
The former Federal Presidents also receive what is known as an honorary salary. This was introduced in the 1950s, allegedly to make Chancellor Adenauer palatable for a change to the head of state. The “old man” didn’t want to, but the regulation remained. Since then, former heads of state have received full remuneration for life. However, you do not have to accept them. Horst Köhler, for example, who was in office from 2004 to 2010, does not.
Switzerland regulates things differently
Things are regulated differently in Switzerland. For one thing, Switzerland has neither a head of state nor a head of government like Germany. The offices are named, but the Swiss Federal President is not a formal head of state. He chairs the Federal Council as primus inter pares. The Federal Chancellor, in turn, serves the Federal Council as chief of staff. The Federal Council performs the functions of the heads of state and government as a collegial body.
Former Federal Councilors are not entitled to office or driving services after their term of office. The pension of a former Federal Councilor corresponds to a maximum of half the salary of an incumbent Federal Councilor. For classification: The gross annual income of a Federal Councilor at the beginning of 2021 was 454,581 francs. This practice does not meet with unqualified approval. The parliamentary group of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) applied for in 2020to abolish the pension. Nobody in Germany wants to go that far.