Federal Court of Auditors: Lindner's budget for climate change is "constitutionally doubtful"

Created: 01/07/2022, 10:43 PM

Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has been criticized for his budget.

(Archive image) © Arnulf Hettrich / Imago

In order to finance climate protection, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants to reallocate unused loans.

The Federal Audit Office considers this to be "constitutionally doubtful".

Berlin - Climate protection is one of the central issues of the new federal government.

In order to put this into practice, however, the government needs funds.

Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has therefore earmarked 60 billion euros for the Energy and Climate Fund (EKF).

But the Federal Audit Office considers the supplementary budget of the minister to be "constitutionally dubious".

Christian Lindner wants to reallocate unused loans for climate protection

From the auditors' point of view, there is no "immediate causal connection", as can be seen from a written statement by the authority on a hearing in the budget committee of the Bundestag, which the AFP news agency received on Friday (7 January). It is not conclusively explained that the funds earmarked for combating the corona pandemic would have to be used. It is "simply asserted" that the climate funds are necessary to overcome the emergency situation caused by the pandemic.

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 do not expire but can still be used in the coming years.

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.

Lindner criticized for budget: Auditors fear "credit authorization in reserve"

"If one were to recognize such a blanket justification as valid, it would pave the way for endless new borrowing," criticize the auditors. The "only purpose" of the supplementary budget is "to 'raise money' for future measures that have not been triggered by an emergency, i.e. to authorize credit in advance."

In addition, the reason for the supplementary budget lacks “any explanation as to why, instead of using emergency loans, existing budgetary leeway, such as the liquidation of reserves, is not used,” it said. In addition, the budgetary principle of annuality is violated. Accordingly, authorizations for expenditure and income generally only apply to the budget year. In the supplementary budget, however, funds should "be 'saved' for climate-related expenditure in the coming budget years".

Traffic light budget: criticism from the opposition - FDP defends Lindner

Lindner wanted to "deceive the Bundestag with a trick" and misuse funds for combating the corona pandemic, explained the left-wing budget expert Gesine Lötzsch on the statement of the Court of Auditors.

"In the opposition, the FDP had called such an approach by the old government unconstitutional."

The Union parliamentary group had already announced last year that it would take action before the Federal Constitutional Court because of the supplementary budget.

CSU General Secretary Markus Blume told

portal that it was "the task of the Constitutional Court to check whether the strict requirements of the debt brake have been complied with".

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr, on the other hand, stressed that it was not about additional debts.

Lindner is even retrospectively reducing the grand coalition's debt.

"The traffic light has set itself the goal of ending the investment backlog caused by the pandemic and the resulting budget crisis," he emphasized.