Parties should pay back 100 million euros

The court did not fundamentally oppose increasing the state subsidy for party funding. In the justification for the law, however, the legislature did not adequately explain why the sum should increase by 25 to 190 million euros per year. In addition to the AfD, the Greens, FDP and Left Party had also requested the law to be examined, as they considered the increase to be disproportionate. As a result of the verdict, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) declared that she wanted to reclaim the overpaid money “in full”.

The 100 million euros are distributed very differently among the parties. This is based on the grants from the Bundestag administration in recent years.

According to calculations by the Handelsblatt, the SPD has a share of 28.5 percent. In view of the total amount reclaimed, this corresponds to an amount of approximately 28.5 million euros.

The CDU has 27.5 million euros, the Greens 13.9, the FDP 8, the CSU 7.6, the left 7 and the AfD 5.5 million euros. For the parties, these are enormous sums. For comparison: the annual budget of the CDU federal party is around 50 million euros.

If necessary, the parties must sell real estate for the repayment

Parties are financed by membership fees, donations and subsidies from the state treasury. Basically, the following applies: In order for parties to be anchored in society and to fulfill their task of forming political opinions and communicating political opinions, they should be financed primarily from contributions and donations as well as from the reward of voters’ votes in the form of state party financing.

But this is becoming increasingly difficult. On the one hand, the number of members is constantly falling. On the other hand, companies and associations donate less. Meanwhile, the parties need to invest more in digital communications and are hit by inflation like others. The people’s parties are also struggling with the collective bargaining agreement in the public sector, since, unlike the smaller parties, they have many employees who are paid according to collective agreements.

In circles of the CDU it was said that the party had to save a total of 18 million euros in view of the impending repayments, for the current year alone there is talk of nine million euros. The national associations have to raise two thirds of this, as Secretary General Mario Czaja is said to have explained last Wednesday at a meeting with the state managers and general secretaries, according to participants.

>> Read here: Merz relies on a tax reform – “A new approach to tax justice”

The regional associations receive corresponding shares from party financing. In view of the imminent judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court, some party branches had rejected the money or put it aside. For example, the Schleswig-Holstein state association, where, according to the spokesman there, it is about 459,737 euros. The money was earmarked for digitization.

However, in view of the lawsuit by the opposition parties at the time, the association “completely set aside” the money and did not invest it. “So it hurts us, of course, because we won’t be able to implement planned digital implementations at the speed we had actually planned.” On the other hand, the repayment for the state association is now “no problem”.

Not all state associations of the CDU have made provisions

The provisions explain that the CDU does not have to save the full amount of 27.5 million euros. However, other state associations now lack the funds to repay the funds.

In CDU circles, there is talk that the Baden-Württemberg state association is in a quandary. “Basically, the CDU Baden-Württemberg budgets solidly,” said a spokeswoman on request. So far, “there have been no corrected notifications from the Bundestag administration, nor – due to the lack of notifications so far – have modalities between the CDU Germany and the CDU state associations regarding the repayment been agreed”. Only then would it be possible to express oneself “seriously on this topic”.

How much each national association pays is usually based on the number of members. The CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia is likely to receive an amount of around three million euros, while smaller state associations such as Rhineland-Palatinate or Hesse must expect at least a higher six-digit amount. If you have not built up any reserves, you may have to sell valuables such as real estate.

The situation in the SPD should be no different, things are looking a little better for the smaller parties. But the situation weighs on her too. According to information from party circles in the Handelsblatt, the general secretaries and treasurers of the CDU and SPD wrote a letter to the President of the Bundestag Bas shortly before Pentecost, appealing for the modalities of the repayment to be reconsidered. There is talk of deferring the reimbursement or spreading it over several years.

Bundestag could amend law on party funding

In view of the dramatic situation, the parties are hoping for clemency from the President of the Bundestag and her discretion. In her claim, Bas can refer to the fact that the Bundestag administration expressly referred to the pending legal review procedure before the Federal Constitutional Court in every notification of grant.

>> Read here: The CDU follows in the footsteps of Konrad Adenauer

However, Bas could also acknowledge that the Karlsruhe judges basically consider the higher state subsidies to the parties to be legal – if the legislative parties justify it clearly enough. If necessary, the Bundestag could also revise the law on party financing and apply it retrospectively.

A spokesman for the President of the Bundestag explained that an administrative hearing is currently being prepared. This should “give the parties the opportunity to comment on all aspects relevant to the decision”.

More: From the heating dispute to the climate dispute – how the traffic light coalition is blocking itself