According to the Federal Court of Auditors, the planned rescue package to cushion the energy crisis is unconstitutional. Foto: nmann77/adobe.stock.com
The Federal Court of Auditors considers the government’s planned borrowing for the €200 billion bailout against high energy prices to be unconstitutional. Another solution had to be found.
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The federal government had planned to create a special fund of 200 billion euros this year, from which expenditures related to the energy crisis, such as a gas price brake, company aid and other measures, are to be borne by 2024.
A report to the budget committee now makes it clear that the Federal Audit Office has objections to the planned procedure. “The planned borrowing ‘in reserve’ violates the constitutional principle of annuality,” it says.
This rule, which is enshrined in the Basic Law, stipulates that the budget is drawn up for one year. Loans taken out are intended to compensate for a budget deficit in the same year.
In its report, the Court of Auditors advocates financing the protective shield directly from the normal federal budget.
The Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag announced that it could not “follow the financing path of the traffic light” in view of the clear criticism of the Court of Auditors. “We cannot simply disregard the aspect of ‘unconstitutionality’,” emphasized the budget spokesman for the parliamentary group, Christian Haase. Instead, he proposed a supplementary budget later this year and continued funding from the core budget for 2023.
The article corresponds to the updated version of 17:31.
pab/dpa/LTO editorial team
