Berlin Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) did not appear in person for the hearing before the Berlin administrative court. His two lawyers said on Thursday that he had traveled and would not initially comment even after a decision had been made. It was they who received the court’s decision after almost six hours: Schröder has no right to an office in the Bundestag.
Spicy: The equipment of the former chancellor is not regulated by law. The specifications are based solely on the decision of the budget committee for each financial year. It was also the committee that had stripped Schröder of his privileges. Specifically, it is about seven rooms and finally four employees.
This committee decision was illegal, explained Schröder’s lawyer Ralph Heiermann at the hearing. The former chancellor had no opportunity to comment before the decision was made. “This is unworthy of a constitutional state,” said the lawyer.
His colleague Michael Nagel emphasized that Schröder did not actually want to take the case to court. Since there were no talks, he saw no other option. But the court dismissed the lawsuit.
The 79-year-old Schröder was chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and party leader of the SPD from 1999 to 2004. It’s been around a year since he lost his right to an office and employees. At the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the former chancellor failed to clearly distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he maintains a friendly relationship. In addition, he undeterred continued his work for Russian energy companies such as Rosneft and Nord Stream AG.
This caused an outcry not only in public. Since then, the SPD has been examining the possibility of a reprimand or a party exclusion. In the first instance, however, the Arbitration Commission saw no basis for this.
However, in May 2022, the responsible budget committee in the Bundestag decided to cut the former chancellor’s public funds. Anyone who hadn’t already resigned from the office to protest against Schröder’s behavior was given a new job.
Schröder’s office was “dormant”.
Funding for equipment has been withdrawn. For personnel expenses alone, 407,000 euros flowed from the state treasury into the office of the former chancellor in 2021. According to the federal government, it has been more than three million euros since 2016.
The reason given to Schröder was that he was no longer pursuing any subsequent tasks from his term of office, which is why his office was being “dormant”. A reference to his Russia connections was not explicitly made.
But the former chancellor appealed against the budget committee’s decision. He wants to ensure that a former chancellor’s office with employees is made available to him again. Schröder, himself a lawyer, considers the decision of May 2022 to be illegal.
The former chancellor has long been criticized for his association with the Russian president.
(Photo: imago/photothek)
The process is so far unique in German history – and of fundamental importance. The lawsuit puts current state practice to the test, said the court spokesman. In view of the fundamental importance, it can be assumed that the case will ultimately not be decided in the first instance.
Ex-Chancellor Merkel was granted nine employees
For several decades it has been customary for former Federal Chancellors and Federal Presidents to be given an office after the end of their term of office. This is to serve the completion of tasks resulting from the previous office.
The offices were previously made available for life and could exist for decades. The first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, not only received a secretariat maintained by the CDU, but also a personal advisor from public funds.
This principle has resulted in a stately supply over the years. The Federal Audit Office also criticized this in a report to the Budget Committee in 2018.
>> Read here: State lawyers consider the deletion of former chancellor privileges to be lawful
The typical equipment of the former heads of government is listed there: an office manager position, three clerk positions, a secretarial position and a driver position. After 16 years as Chancellor, Angela Merkel was given an office with nine employees and salaries of up to 10,000 euros.
The budget committee of the Bundestag decided in 2019 that former chancellors should only have five employees. However, this only applies to the time after the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
In the spring of 2022, the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP then generally reorganized the alimony. It now depends on whether the former top politicians actually still take on tasks related to their former office, such as having patronage and giving speeches.
No legal regulations for equipment of former chancellors
The law firm commissioned by Schröder considers the decision to be illegal. It is “claimed that former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder no longer takes on the so-called after-effects of official duties”. However, it is not specified what “after-effects official duties” are and “how their perception or non-perception is to be determined and what procedure is to be followed,” the statement continued.
The defense of the ex-chancellor considered the decision of the budget committee of the Bundestag to be illegal.
(Photo: dpa)
Lawyers have been pushing for a long time to legally regulate the equipment of former chancellors, but also former federal presidents. Only in this way could the public tasks and the funds required for them be clearly defined.
The law professor at the University of Düsseldorf, Sophie Schönberger, criticized the current state practice in the Federal Republic in the “Constitution Blog”. This is “extremely difficult in many places” in relation to the highest state offices, the democratic distinction between the office that is filled by a person and the person who, at least in public perception, partially merges with the office, “in to steer orderly paths”. The former chancellor’s offices, which are completely unregulated in law and have probably not been subject to any effective control in practice up to now, are an example of this.
With agency material
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