The lawsuit comes with jubilation. And with a question mark that has been bothering entrepreneurs for months: Does the Bavarian Corona emergency aid have to be repaid? A first lawsuit in the matter was filed in May, and since Tuesday at least one other entrepreneur has been trying to find a legal answer: He has filed an action for annulment with the administrative court in Ansbach against the repayment notice. This is welcomed, according to a statement by the BVMW Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: This creates an “additional opportunity” to “finally bring clarity to the matter”.
Clarity is perhaps more necessary than ever. Even when the Corona emergency aid started in spring 2020, the question marks were big. At that time, around 2.2 billion euros were paid out to 260,000 companies in Bavaria to cushion losses caused by the pandemic. But imprecise guidelines quickly caused frustration among those affected. More were added in autumn 2022. The state government had actually ruled out repaying the aid, but the recipients still found a letter in their mailboxes: They were supposed to use a special online portal by the end of June 2023 to prove that they were entitled to receive the money. This is common with state aid – but in view of the original announcement, many entrepreneurs fell from the clouds.
The deadline has been overturned, instead of June, the talk is now of the end of 2023. Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (FW) also issued exceptions to the repayment obligation for special cases of hardship. Apparently, not even the online portal is mandatory anymore. In the lawsuit filed in May before the Munich Administrative Court, the main issue has not yet been decided. Nevertheless, as a result, the obligation to participate in the feedback process via the online mask was lifted, says the lawyer Nils Bergert from the Würzburg law firm Steinbock and Partners. Instead, feedback from specialized lawyers is sufficient. In this it can also be argued directly why there is no repayment obligation. From the point of view of the BVMW SME association, this is a partial success. There one advocates suspending the entire feedback procedure until “reliable judgments” are available. Criticism has also been heard from parts of the state parliament opposition for months. The state government’s regulations were “inadequately drafted” and led to injustice, the Greens faction complained in May.
And the dispute over clarity could get even bigger. At the law firm Steinbock and Partners alone, according to their own statements, they currently represent a three-digit number of entrepreneurs who are seeking legal advice because of the emergency aid. The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced in 2021 that there would be no nationwide repayment, says Bergert. “If I say A and do B, then I have forfeited my rights to B.” However, it is still a question mark to what extent the courts will follow this assessment.