State government wants to dissolve MV protection fund ahead of schedule
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern wants to withdraw from the billion-euro MV protection fund at the end of 2023, one year earlier than planned. The state government will submit this proposal to the state parliament, said Minister President Manuela Schwesig (SPD) on Tuesday after the cabinet meeting in Schwerin. Instead of the first repayment installment of 270 million euros planned for 2024, 415 million euros of the 2.85 billion euro special loan to overcome the corona crisis should already be repaid next year. Wage subsidies for companies that have not yet been applied for but are permissible or outstanding investments, for example in the digitalization of schools, would be financed from the state's reserves.
With this decision, the state government was obviously reacting to the constitutional court ruling on the federal budget as a precautionary measure. The judges in Karlsruhe had objected to the fact that the federal government wanted to use 60 billion euros, which had originally been earmarked to combat the consequences of coronavirus, for climate protection projects in 2023, among other things. "The good news is that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - unlike the federal government - has not reallocated free corona funds, for example to the energy fund," emphasized Schwesig. However, Finance Minister Heiko Geue (SPD) conceded that the regulations on the MV protection fund had not yet been subjected to a detailed constitutional review.
The State Court of Auditors and some members of the opposition had criticized the fact that funds from the MV Protection Fund were also used for projects that were not directly related to the coronavirus pandemic. For example, a special fund of 360 million euros was set up for the two university hospitals in Rostock and Greifswald.
The state government's proposal to withdraw from the MV protection fund earlier requires approval from the state parliament, as stipulated by the Constitution. This decision was made in response to the constitutional court ruling on the federal budget, acting as a precautionary measure.
Source: www.dpa.com
