Mützenich criticizes constitutional judges
He has respect for the Federal Constitutional Court, says SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich in the Bundestag - and he hopes that Karlsruhe also has respect for the Bundestag. This kind of criticism of Germany's highest court is unusual.
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich has criticized the Federal Constitutional Court with unusual clarity. Speaking in the Bundestag, Mützenich said that he was unsure whether the strict interpretation of the budget principles of annuality and annuality, with which the judges in Karlsruhe had obliged the Bundestag to plan its budget on an annual basis, would meet the challenges.
"Every investor in this country plans for longer than one year," said Mützenich. These principles are also problematic in view of natural disasters such as the one in the Ahr valley.
Politicians criticizing the Federal Constitutional Court too clearly is unusual, almost taboo. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously said in a government statement that the Federal Constitutional Court had provided clarity with its ruling, "and the court has the last word here". Scientifically, the ruling may be discussed further. "Politically, however, the discussion is over with the Karlsruhe ruling."
"Respect" for the Federal Constitutional Court
In contrast, Mützenich said that the Federal Constitutional Court's budget ruling was difficult to reconcile with the Karlsruhe ruling on climate protection in 2021. What bothered him the most, however, was that the ruling had come just one day before the Budget Committee's clean-up meeting - the ruling on the Building Energy Act had only come shortly before the final reading of the draft bill. This provoked "some discussions" in the SPD parliamentary group.
Mützenich emphasized before and after his criticism that he had respect for the Federal Constitutional Court, "but I also want to say at the same time that I hope that the Federal Constitutional Court also has respect for other constitutional institutions such as the German Bundestag".
CDU budget politician Mathias Middelberg replied that Mützenich should be happy that the Federal Constitutional Court had ruled this year. "Now you still have the chance to make a supplementary budget and repair the situation," said Middelberg in the Bundestag debate.
Regardless of his criticism of the Karlsruhe ruling, Mützenich called for the debt brake to be suspended in the coming year. The coalition has not yet decided on this. Mützenich also questioned the debt brake in its current form. "We have to ask ourselves whether it is appropriate given the challenges of our time," he said. "Fundamental corrections" were necessary. The FDP has already ruled out a reform of the debt brake, and Scholz also did not sound as if he was prepared to do so in the Bundestag.
In response to the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on budget principles, SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich expressed concern in the German Bundestag, stating that he hoped the court would also respect the parliament's role. Additionally, Mützenich noted that the timing of the ruling, just before a key budget meeting, had caused "some discussions" within his party.
Source: www.ntv.de
