Subsidies for party-affiliated foundations: AfD lawsuit before the Federal Constitutional Court

The AfD is complaining to the Federal Constitutional Court that it wants state funding for the Desiderius Erasmus Foundation, which is close to it. In Karlsruhe, it is also about loyalty to the constitution.

The AfD wants the Desiderius Erasmus Foundation, which is close to it, to receive government grants – just like the other party-affiliated foundations. So far this is not the case. As the AfD sees it, this violates their right to equal opportunities for the parties and has therefore sued the Bundestag and the federal government.

Which foundations receive how much money is determined in the Bundestag during the budget negotiations and then decided by Parliament. So far, the basis for the distribution of the funds has been the budget law, which is passed every year. A special financing law for political foundations does not yet exist. The AfD also considers this to be unconstitutional.

Need a separate law for funding?

The Vice-President of the Federal Constitutional Court and Chair of the Second Senate, Doris König, made it clear today that this will play an important role in the legal review: “With regard to the formal requirements for state funding for party-affiliated foundations, it will have to be discussed in particular whether the Allocation of the global grants must be regulated in a special law.”

Law professor Joachim Wieland, who represents the Bundestag before the Federal Constitutional Court, believes that a special law is not necessary: ​​”In my view, the budget law is sufficient. The legislature is the same as with substantive laws. It is bound by the constitution. It must respect the principle of equality It is not customary in German law for subsidies to be regulated in a substantive law. And I see no reason for this either.”

The SPD right-wing politician Johannes Fechner is of the same opinion. He also thinks that the budget law is sufficient as a basis for the distribution of funds. Irrespective of this, the foundation, which is close to the AfD, should under no circumstances be subsidized by the state, according to Fechner: “There must be no funding for enemies of democracy. That is our principle. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution tells us that the AfD does not have both feet on the ground of the Basic Law . Then we cannot, if we have such doubts about the AfD, support their foundation with tax money.”

No funding for enemies of the constitution?

The new budget law stipulates that foundations only receive financial resources on the condition that they are constitutional. For this reason, the Desiderius Erasmus Foundation was again denied financial support.

Not only the AfD, but also their foundation are said to have connections to the right-wing extremist milieu. The chairman of the foundation, the former CDU politician Erika Steinbach – today a member of the AfD – rejects this accusation: “It is pure slander. I was the undisputed spokeswoman on human rights in the CDU/CSU parliamentary group for fourteen years. I would never Assuming the presidency of an organization that would not behave in accordance with the constitution or that would even be racist or anti-Semitic. I will not allow myself or my organization to be accused of such a thing.”

Judgment next year at the earliest

There are many individual questions that the Federal Constitutional Court has to answer in its decision: How is loyalty to the constitution to be weighted when it comes to the distribution of foundation funds? Is a special financing law necessary, and if so, what criteria should it include? A verdict is not expected until next year at the earliest.

File number: 2 BvE 3/19