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Members of the Bundestag (archive picture)
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
For the first time in the history of the Bundestag, diets are falling.
As a result of the Corona crisis, MPs will receive less money from July.
As can be seen from a letter from Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, the taxable parliamentary allowance drops by 70.58 to 10,012.89 euros.
The Ludwigshafen newspaper "Rheinpfalz" reported about it first.
The diets of the members of parliament roughly correspond to the salaries of judges at a supreme federal court.
A few years ago, the development of the diets was linked to the development of wages in the country so that the MPs no longer vote on the amount themselves, which regularly caused criticism.
These fell on average last year due to the corona crisis.
The so-called nominal wage index fell by 0.7 percent.
The diets are now being reduced accordingly.
Once upon a time, MPs received an expense allowance of 600 marks
As can be seen from the statistics of the Bundestag, it is the first lowering in the history of parliament.
In contrast, there have been zero rounds more often.
In the first Bundestag in 1949, the MPs received an expense allowance of DM 600.
The reduction in diets had already been expected in parts of Parliament. It has been known since the beginning of the year that nominal wages have fallen. Britta Haßelmann, first parliamentary director of the Greens, had told SPIEGEL at the time that she found a "reduction in MPs' diets only logical in the event of a negative wage development." It is a good thing that the Bundestag has passed a "transparent statutory regulation on parliamentary compensation".
The Federal Statistical Office published the latest figures on wage developments in Germany in March.
Accordingly, the wages of semi-skilled workers fell the most at 2.5 percent, followed by unskilled employees (minus 1.6 percent), skilled workers (minus 1.2 percent) and "prominent skilled workers" (minus 0.2 percent) .
In contrast, the earnings of employees in managerial positions increased slightly by 0.2 percent.
slü / dpa