background
The traffic light coalition also wants to use the debt brake exemption for 2023. To this end, she wants to propose to the Bundestag that it declare an extraordinary emergency. Under what conditions does this work?
According to Article 115 of the Basic Law, the Bundestag may, under certain conditions, decide on an exception to the requirements of the debt brake. Namely, “in the event of natural disasters or exceptional emergencies that are beyond the state’s control and have a significant impact on the state’s financial situation.”
What is the “exceptional emergency situation”?
As a first step, politicians must now determine and, above all, justify: What exactly is the “extraordinary emergency situation” for the current decision? In a second step, one must justify why the loan-financed measures are in a context with the “extraordinary emergency situation”.
This was one of the reasons why the Climate and Transformation Fund failed before the Federal Constitutional Court because, according to the court, the justification for the connection between the pandemic and climate protection measures was not sustainable.
Sustainable justification is crucial
Whether the renewed suspension of the debt brake for 2023 is constitutional depends largely on how well the government and the Bundestag justify the “extraordinary emergency situation” and the necessary connection between the financed measures and the emergency situation.
However, this exact reason is not yet known. The ministries are currently working intensively on this. If there is a new lawsuit after the decision, the Federal Constitutional Court could examine whether the rules of the Basic Law were adhered to when the debt brake was suspended again.