Dietmar Nietan speaks of the “worst worst case” scenario. Should the Federal Constitutional Court overturn the increase in party funding by 25 to 190 million euros this Tuesday and demand a repayment, then he sees major cuts in the Union and SPD in particular. Both parties are said to be in the tens of millions.
“It is very important in which form the Federal Constitutional Court judges,” says the Treasurer of the SPD in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Since 2018, because of the pending verdict, he has instructed the federal party and the state associations to budget in such a way that they do not spend the additional funds received as a result of the increase for the time being. The SPD practically managed as if the increase had not happened. Nietan cut the budget for the 2021 federal election by 40 percent, ten million fewer. In addition, membership fees were increased in order to finance the income from our own resources.
Hybrid party events are more expensive than purely analogue ones
From the point of view of the SPD treasurer, the corona pandemic has shown that the central argument for raising the upper limit – the costs of digitization – is valid and not pretended. Because of the high average age of the members, the SPD must also have double structures ready, for example because many still want to vote by letter when members decide on a coalition agreement.
The party’s events now cost up to 70 percent more, says Nietan. Because of the pandemic, many members wanted to use the hybrid format of presence and online participation – this makes the events more expensive. The IT share in the total costs of the federal party has risen from twelve to around 28 percent. There are more video conferences and dialogue forums, and data protection costs a lot. “I don’t want to know what would happen if hackers from Russia or China manipulated important party votes,” says Nietan.
Also, the market for conference and event services has undergone a major cleansing during the pandemic, competition has eased, prices have gone up – and then there’s inflation. An SPD federal party conference has cost around two million euros so far, so Nietan expects at least 2.25 million euros in the future.
Digitization also requires expensive security structures
The social democrat has a Rhenish disposition, but in view of the forthcoming court decision, you can tell he’s rumbling in his stomach. Nietan also believes that a fundamental judgment on the reorganization of party financing is possible. In the court hearing on October 12, 2021, he had already emphasized: “In 1992, the Federal Constitutional Court determined that the previous total volume ‘must be regarded as sufficient’ as long as ‘the existing conditions do not experience any drastic change’https://www. sueddeutsche.de/politik/.” And Nietan continued at the time: “With the rapidly advancing digitization, however, we have been experiencing precisely these drastic changes in the existing conditions every day for many years.” A brief look at the rise of Donald Trump or the success of the Brexit campaign, “to make it clear what enormous pressure the new digital possibilities are putting on securing democratic structures and decision-making processes in open societies and on democratic parties in particular”.
Because of their large number of members, the Union and the SPD in particular have to maintain the expensive “duality” of analogue and digital communication and participation, argues Nietan. He is a believer in both, wants to be equally present and approachable locally and online. But if the Federal Constitutional Court overturns the increase completely and retrospectively, it will have to put the previous personnel costs and IT investments to the test. As a fundamentally optimistic person, however, he hopes that his arguments will have been heard in Karlsruhe, says the treasurer. And then he adds: “But what’s the saying? In court and on the high seas you are in God’s hands.”