Bundestag raises upper limit for party funding again
The newly increased absolute cap of 184.8 million euros will now apply retroactively from 2018. In addition, an annual progression is planned - also retroactively and also in the future - which takes inflation into account, among other things.
The increase is "necessary in view of the increased demands on political work and the increased participation requirements within the parties", according to the draft bill. The "additional financial requirements" arise in particular from the costs of internet presences, the fight against fake news and hacker attacks, data protection and IT security measures, social media and other new communication channels, it continues.
In order for democratic parties to be visible and relevant in public debates on digital platforms and social media, they must "invest massively in digital communication", said Dietmar Nietan(SPD) in the plenary debate. Party democracy must be "capable of defending itself against attacks on liberal democracy", said CDU MP Julia Klöckner.
Irene Mihalic from the Greens said that, especially in times when the discourse has changed massively and extremist forces are gaining ground, it is all the more important to set up political parties in such a way that they fulfill their constitutional mandate.
In the summer of 2018, the Bundestag increased state party funding by around 25 million euros to 190 million euros with the votes of the then governing grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD. This increase had not been sufficiently justified and was therefore unconstitutional, the highest German court ruled at the end of January this year. It thus ruled in favor of 216 members of parliament from the FDP, Greens and Left Party, who filed an application for a judicial review against the increase.
According to Doris König, Chairwoman of the Second Senate, the principle of the freedom of political parties "means that an increase in their income must not lead to an ever-increasing level of state funding".
With the new law, the Bundestag is now "fulfilling its duty to provide justification" and is "also explaining the additional need for digitization in the past", said FDP MP Stefan Thomae. "We are thus rectifying the mistake from the previous legislation."
The AfD had filed a separate lawsuit against the increase in the parties decided by the grand coalition, but failed before the Federal Constitutional Court. Digitalization is supposed to make everything faster, cheaper and more efficient, but in the party funding structure it "suddenly serves to shamelessly reach into the taxpayers' coffers", said AfD MP Stephan Brandner in the Bundestag on Friday.
The adopted draft law also obliges parties to list income from sponsorship separately in their financial statements from a de minimis limit in future. In order to create more transparency in party funding, the threshold value for donations, which must be reported immediately to the President of the Bundestag and published by her in a timely manner, is also to be reduced from 50,000 euros to 35,000 euros.
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The new upper limit for party financing, set at 184.8 million euros, takes inflation into account, as mentioned in the draft bill. This increase in funding is necessary to meet the demands of digital communication and combat fake news, hacker attacks, and data protection issues on social media. Dietmar Nietan, an SPD member, emphasized the importance of investing in digital communication for democratic parties to remain visible in public debates. The constitutional court ruled that the previous increase in funding was unconstitutional, leading the Bundestag to rectify the mistake with the new law. The FDP supported this move, as it fulfills the Bundestag's duty to provide justification for additional funding needs. The AfD criticized the increase, arguing that it serves to excessively fund political parties. The new law also requires parties to list sponsorship income separately in financial statements and reduces the threshold value for donations that must be reported immediately.
Source: www.stern.de
