Finances - Baden-Württemberg puts budgetary policy to the test
Following the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on the federal budget, Baden-Württemberg is having its own financial policy legally reviewed. This was reported by the "Badische Zeitung" (Tuesday), citing Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz. "We want to ensure external, critical legal support so that we have legal certainty in the future," the Green politician told the newspaper.
Unlike the German government, the state had not misappropriated any emergency loans from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Bayaz. However, the judges in Karlsruhe had also determined that such loans may only be used in the financial year for which they were set. Baden-Württemberg had also used credit authorizations against corona in 2022 - to combat the consequences of the pandemic. According to Bayaz, the expert opinion should now clarify whether the emergency situation must be declared anew each time for such use and whether the determination also applies to other credit authorizations.
The financial and tax law expert Hanno Kube from the University of Heidelberg is to be commissioned for the expert opinion.
The Federal Constitutional Court had declared the reallocation of corona loans to a fund for climate protection and the modernization of the economy null and void. At the same time, the judges ruled that the state may not set aside emergency loans for later years. This tears a billion-euro gap in the planning for the coming year - and in the financing of long-term projects in the coming years.
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- Amidst this, Danyal Bayaz, the Finance Minister of Baden-Württemberg, emphasized the importance of seeking external, critical legal support to ensure future legal certainty in the state's budgetary policy.
- In response to the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on the federal budget, Baden-Württemberg's budgetary policies are now undergoing legal scrutiny, as reported by the "Badische Zeitung".
- Due to the Financial Constitutional Court's determination that emergency loans can only be utilized during the financial year they are granted, Baden-Württemberg is seeking clarification on whether the emergency situation needs to be declared anew for each use of such loans and whether this rule applies to all credit authorizations.
- The experts at the University of Heidelberg, specifically Hanno Kube, have been commissioned to provide an expert opinion on the matter, aimed at shedding light on the intricacies of budgetary policy under the current circumstances.
- The Federal Constitutional Court's nullification of reallocating corona loans to a fund for climate protection and modernization of the economy has left a billion-euro gap in the planned budget for the upcoming year and future long-term projects, raising concerns about the state's finances and household debt management.
- Danyal Bayaz, the Green politician overseeing Baden-Württemberg's finances, stated that the state had not mismanaged any coronavirus emergency loans, distinguishing its budgetary practices from those of the German federal government.
Source: www.stern.de
