This authority calls plans “counterproductive and risky”

Berlin The Federal Court of Auditors has sharply criticized the planned citizens’ allowance. Although individual regulations are to be welcomed, such as improved additional earning opportunities for benefit recipients, the authority writes in a report to the budget committee, which is available to the Handelsblatt. Other changes to the Hartz IV system “could prove to be counterproductive and lead to avoidable financial risks for the federal budget,” write the auditors.

According to the draft law by Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD), which the Bundestag discussed for the first time on Thursday, the citizen income will result in additional costs of 4.8 billion euros in the coming year, of which 4.2 billion euros will be borne by the federal government. By 2026, the costs could increase to 5.9 billion euros.

The Federal Court of Auditors complains that the Federal Government on the one hand wants to stick to the welfare state principle that the primary goal of citizen income must be to quickly overcome the need for help. But they set the wrong incentives to do so.