one-time payment
Students still have to wait for 200 euros
The Audimax at the University of Hanover. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
The traffic light coalition promised that students should receive a one-time payment of 200 euros because of the skyrocketing prices. But when will the money come?
Students will probably have to wait a while for the 200-euro one-time payment agreed in the third relief package of the traffic light coalition. As can be seen from an internal government paper on the timetable for the various measures from the relief package, adoption by the Bundesrat is not expected before mid-December.
Before that, the necessary legal regulations have to be passed by the Federal Cabinet and the Bundestag. January 1st is given as the date for a possible entry into force. The paper is available from the German Press Agency. The “Spiegel” had previously reported that the 200 euros would probably not be paid out until the beginning of January at the earliest.
According to dpa information, the main problem is the question of implementation. The Federal Ministry of Education and the federal states have not yet found a practicable solution for disbursing the money. The problem: There is no central office that has the account details of all students and technical students who are also to receive 200 euros. It is therefore difficult to automatically reach all of the 3 million people affected and to transfer the money unbureaucratically.
The federal government gives little information
In addition, it must be clarified whether students in part-time studies should also receive the 200 euros and how deadweight effects could be prevented, for example with people who are still enrolled but are no longer studying but have long been pursuing a regular job.
The Union MPs Katrin Staffler (CSU) and Thomas Jarzombek (CDU) wanted to get more detailed information from the Federal Ministry of Education on the timing and structure of the payment and had made written inquiries in the middle of the month. The answers from the ministry were sparse: “The point in time from which the payment can be made depends on the course and result of the relevant consultations between the federal government and the federal states,” it said only. That cannot be anticipated. The aim is that the payment can be made on site as quickly and unbureaucratically as possible.
Next Wednesday, the prime ministers of the federal states will discuss the implementation of the third relief package decided by the traffic light with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and other government representatives. The topic of special payments for students should also be discussed.
Staffler accused Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) of “lack of plan” in “Spiegel”. The students urgently need relief, she said. The left education politician Nicole Gohlke said on Friday: “The federal government does not seem to be aware of the size of the problem if it is still discussing how the money should actually get to the people.” She also criticized the amount of the payment. The money will just be enough for most students to cover the additional costs of a month.