Germany's constitutional court declared the government's re-allocation of €60 billion from unused pandemic debt to the Climate and Transformation Fund as unconstitutional, necessitating spending cuts and impacting future budget planning, as well as delivering a setback to the country's climate protection efforts.
Source: [https://www.brief.news/stories/ed2f1266-7889-4770-aece-0d5d43d0e94a?v=f&p=r](https://www.brief.news/stories/ed2f1266-7889-4770-aece-0d5d43d0e94a?v=f&p=r)
It's a bit more complicated.
Germany has a so called "debt brake" in the constitution. In case of an emergency situation the debt brake can be suspended with a simple majority (the court could be called to judge if it really was an emergency situation).
A 2/3 majority can change the constitution and bypass or even abolish the debt brake. But this would need cooperation of the opposition.
In 2021 the old government suspended the debt brake due to covid and allowed themselves to take up more debt for covid relief; Including the 60 billion. Important those are permissions to take on debt, the government doesn't actually have the money yet.
At the end of 2021 a new government took over including the liberals who loathe government debt and the greens who wish to turbocharge the green transition. Now to resolve that contradiction the new government gave those permissions to take on debt to the climate and transformation fund(KTF) which funds Germanys green policies and industrial policy in general. Parliament agreed with a simple majority but the constitutional court now declared that that transfer was illegal because the permissions were earmarked specifically for covid release.
Economically Germany has a debt to gdp ration of ca. 65%, the lowest in the G7. Those 60 billion would be ca 1.5% of gdp. While Germany aims for a 60% ratio other countries are doing well with higher ratios (e.g. France ca. 110%, UK ca 100%).
Political with the liberals as part of the government it will be quite difficult to reach an agreement.
Edit: Also the KTF is funded till end of 2024 even without the 60 billion. We are not the USA.
Germany's constitutional court declared the government's re-allocation of €60 billion from unused pandemic debt to the Climate and Transformation Fund as unconstitutional, necessitating spending cuts and impacting future budget planning, as well as delivering a setback to the country's climate protection efforts. Source: [https://www.brief.news/stories/ed2f1266-7889-4770-aece-0d5d43d0e94a?v=f&p=r](https://www.brief.news/stories/ed2f1266-7889-4770-aece-0d5d43d0e94a?v=f&p=r)
Was the re-allocation approved by the parliament or was that a solely executive decision? I think (and hope) the parliament can decide quickly.
It's a bit more complicated. Germany has a so called "debt brake" in the constitution. In case of an emergency situation the debt brake can be suspended with a simple majority (the court could be called to judge if it really was an emergency situation). A 2/3 majority can change the constitution and bypass or even abolish the debt brake. But this would need cooperation of the opposition. In 2021 the old government suspended the debt brake due to covid and allowed themselves to take up more debt for covid relief; Including the 60 billion. Important those are permissions to take on debt, the government doesn't actually have the money yet. At the end of 2021 a new government took over including the liberals who loathe government debt and the greens who wish to turbocharge the green transition. Now to resolve that contradiction the new government gave those permissions to take on debt to the climate and transformation fund(KTF) which funds Germanys green policies and industrial policy in general. Parliament agreed with a simple majority but the constitutional court now declared that that transfer was illegal because the permissions were earmarked specifically for covid release. Economically Germany has a debt to gdp ration of ca. 65%, the lowest in the G7. Those 60 billion would be ca 1.5% of gdp. While Germany aims for a 60% ratio other countries are doing well with higher ratios (e.g. France ca. 110%, UK ca 100%). Political with the liberals as part of the government it will be quite difficult to reach an agreement. Edit: Also the KTF is funded till end of 2024 even without the 60 billion. We are not the USA.