Is the Corona special fund of the state RLP legal? – SWR current

The AfD faction in the state parliament had complained about it. In order to cope with the consequences of the corona pandemic, the country created the opportunity in 2020 to take out additional loans of more than one billion euros outside of the regular budget.

According to the AfD, this would not have been necessary if the state had liquidated one of its reserves. The state audit office and the taxpayers’ association also share this position.

The President of the State Audit Office, Jörg Berres, said before the Constitutional Court in the hearing on March 4 that at that time the pandemic was only six months old and nobody knew when a vaccine would be available. The connection to the emergency situation is also incomprehensible for several measures that are financed from the special fund. Berres spoke of “borrowing in reserve” and a “parallel budget”.

Violation of the debt brake?

The core issue is whether the additional loans violate the so-called debt brake in the constitution. This prohibits the country from taking on new debt. However, the constitution permits exceptions, for example in the event of catastrophes, economic downturns or emergencies. According to lawyers, the corona pandemic is an emergency situation.

RKI: Infection wave at its peak

The state government also referred to this in the oral hearing. Taking out the loans to deal with the pandemic was necessary to combat the crisis and could not have been offset by other means, said the head of department in the Ministry of Finance, Dieter Stahl, at the time.

Can the additional credits be used for other purposes?

Another point of criticism that the court must clarify: Can the state government use the additional credits, which are actually intended for the consequences of the corona pandemic, for digitization or climate protection, among other things?

For example, around 50 million euros of the loan package are intended for climate protection and environmental protection. The corresponding law speaks of an “economic revival and reduction of the pandemic-related burdens on companies in the renewable energy and environmental sectors”. AfD parliamentary group, Court of Auditors and Taxpayers Association criticize: These loans for climate protection have nothing to do with Corona.

Judgment is eagerly awaited in Mainz

The decision on the Corona special fund is eagerly awaited in the state capital of Mainz. There the state parliament will vote this Friday at the end of a three-day debate on the 2022 budget. Parliament is expected to approve the government draft with a majority of the SPD, Greens and FDP, supplemented by amendments from the traffic light parliamentary groups.

Country more often in court because of fiscal policy

For the state government, this is the fourth time in the past ten years that it has faced the country’s highest court because of its financial policy. In 2012, the VGH declared the financing model for municipalities to be unconstitutional. The same happened in 2017 with the pension fund for civil servants. And in 2019, the VGH once again declared the financing model for municipalities to be unconstitutional.

Hesse: Special fund unconstitutional

There was a similar lawsuit in Hesse last fall. There, too, the state government had set up a billion-dollar special fund to deal with the Corona crisis. The Hessian state court had declared that to be unconstitutional.

Judgment could have a signal effect

If the Rhineland-Palatinate Administrative Court came to the same conclusion, this judgment would have nationwide significance. Because the Federal Constitutional Court will soon have to deal with a similar question.

The background is that the federal government is planning to use loans intended for Corona for climate protection. The CDU/CSU opposition in the Bundestag assumes that this is a violation of the debt brake in the Basic Law and has announced a lawsuit before the Federal Constitutional Court.

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