Constitutional Court - Minister: Coalition implemented budget restrictions
Schleswig-Holstein's Finance Minister Monika Heinold referred to the announced constitutional complaint against the budget 2024 as a good right of the opposition. The judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on the federal budget had clarified the use of emergency credits, she said. And from the perspective of the state government, these conditions in the budget had also been met.
Independently, she considered a reform of the debt brake to be right, the Minister stated. The regulation states that the budgets of the federal government and the states must be balanced in principle without credits. "Emergency credits can also be used annually, especially when it comes to large investments such as securing the coasts with dikes," she explained.
The SPD and FDP state parliamentary factions have announced a constitutional complaint against the budget 2024. The lawyer commissioned by the factions, Simon Kempny from Bielefeld, is supposed to prepare a complaint document by the end of August. They want to file a norm control complaint with the Constitutional Court then. A spokesman for the state constitutional court told the German Press Agency that it was unlikely that a judgment would fall in this year as well. He justified this, among other things, with long response times in such a procedure.
- Monika Heinold, the Finance Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, supports the opposition's right to file a constitutional complaint against the 2024 budget, which includes an announced complaint against the budget at the Federal Constitutional Court.
- In response to the opposition's planned constitutional complaint, Heinold mentioned that the use of emergency credits in the budget was clarified by the Federal Constitutional Court's judgment on the federal budget.
- Despite the constitutional complaint, Heinold still believes that a reform of the debt brake is necessary and appropriate, as the regulation requires budgets to be balanced without credits, though emergency credits can be used for significant investments like coastal protection with dikes.
- The SPD and FDP state parliamentary factions have commissioned lawyer Simon Kempny from Bielefeld to prepare a complaint document by the end of August, with the intention of filing a norm control complaint against the 2024 budget with the Constitutional Court.
- The Household budget of Schleswig-Holstein, like other state and federal budgets, is subject to the principles outlined in the debt brake, which requires a balanced budget without credits, except in the case of emergency credits for specific investments.
