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Federal Audit Office in Bonn: "Not conclusively explained"
Photo: Jörn Wolter / IMAGO
The Federal Audit Office has problems with the supplementary budget presented by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP).
The connection between the 60 billion euro allocation to the energy and climate fund and the fight against the corona pandemic is "not conclusively explained," according to a statement by the Court of Auditors for the budget committee published by the Bundestag.
It is doubtful whether it is compatible with the constitution.
Lindner wants to reallocate 60 billion euros that were approved as loans due to the corona crisis in 2021, but were not taken out.
They should be put on the high edge in the special fund, so to speak, so that they can still be used in the years to come.
Among other things, the Court of Auditors criticizes that climate change is not an acute, sudden crisis, but a permanent challenge that has to be overcome with normal budget rules.
The use of emergency loans can only be a last resort after all reserves have been exhausted.
In addition, it is not conclusive that the Bundestag should subsequently change the budget of the previous year - if any necessary emergency loans could simply flow into the budget for 2022.
The reallocation is important to Lindner, among other things, because he has promised to comply with the debt brake again from 2023.
This only allows small amounts of new loans.
At the same time, however, the new federal government has made major investments in climate protection, among other things.
mik / dpa