Karlsruhe: Federal government does not have to pay more than agreed for environmental damage from GDR
With reunification, the state-owned companies of the GDR were transferred to the Treuhand and privatized. It was often agreed that the investors would not be liable for environmental damage caused in the past. To finance these exemptions, the federal and state governments concluded an agreement in 1992 that regulated the distribution of costs.
Later, lump-sum compensation was agreed with individual federal states - with Thuringia in 1999 and with Saxony in 2008. This largely determined how much the federal government would have to pay. The agreements also stipulated that in certain cases and in the event of higher costs than assumed, renegotiations were to take place.
Saxony and Thuringia realized that the renovations would be more expensive than planned. However, the federal government did not want to renegotiate. The two states therefore turned to the Constitutional Court. The court has now declared that the federal states lack the authority to file an application. The federal government's refusal did not violate their rights and obligations under the Basic Law.
Read also:
- This will change in December
- German activists speak out in Dubai on suffering in Israel and the Gaza Strip
- Nuclear fusion - hype or solution to energy problems?
- Budget crisis fuels debate on citizen's income - Bas warns against populism
Source: www.stern.de
