Status: 08/12/2022 1:33 p.m
Former Chancellor Schröder is suing for the return of his office – for the nine jobs there flowed 407,000 euros from the state coffers last year. What entitlements do former chancellors have after their term of office?
Pension entitlements after a chancellorship can be made up of various tasks during the political career: from the length of membership in the Bundestag, from the activity as a federal or state minister, as a prime minister and as a chancellor. However, the various claims are partly offset against each other.
The Members of Parliament Act applies to membership of the Bundestag: According to this, parliamentarians can be entitled to up to 65 percent of the remuneration for members of parliament, depending on the duration. Claims arising from membership of the Federal Government are regulated by the Federal Ministers Act. The amount of this pension depends on the length of service. According to the Taxpayers’ Association, a government member’s pension can be as high as around 12,000 euros.
Offices so far for life
All former chancellors and former federal presidents are actually entitled to an office. Office management, speaker positions, typists and drivers are financed. The offices were previously made available for life and could exist for decades.
For example, Angela Merkel – in office from 2005 to 2021 – will receive monthly retirement benefits of around 15,000 euros according to a calculation by the taxpayers’ association. When the former chancellor moved into her new office a few months ago, she was given nine employees with salaries of up to 10,000 euros.
Funds cut for Schröder’s office
The equipment for former chancellors is based on resolutions by the budget committee of the Bundestag – but this decided in May that former chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s office would be “put on hold”. Parliament refused him funds for office and staff.
Previously, the traffic light coalition had generally reorganized the alimony of former federal chancellors and federal presidents and made it dependent on whether the former top politicians actually still take on tasks related to their former office – i.e. have patronage and give speeches.
The coalition justified the withdrawal of funds for Schröder by saying “that former Chancellor Schröder no longer has any ongoing obligations from office”. He is now taking legal action against it.
More than three million euros since 2016
Previously, he was entitled to nine positions for his former chancellor’s office, for which, according to the Bundestag, 407,000 euros flowed from the state treasury last year – since 2016, according to the federal government, it has been more than three million euros. Recently, however, many of the positions were vacant because the employees resigned after the Russian attack on Ukraine – presumably in protest against Schröder’s lack of distance from the Kremlin. Schröder’s pension and his personal protection were not touched by the budget committee.
The committee had already decided in 2019 that former chancellors should only have five employees. However, this only applies to the time after the incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).