Current:Home > ScamsGermany’s highest court annuls a decision to repurpose COVID relief funding for climate measures -VitalWealth Strategies
Germany’s highest court annuls a decision to repurpose COVID relief funding for climate measures
View
Date:2025-04-17 20:18:59
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s highest court on Wednesday annulled a government decision to repurpose 60 billion euros ($65 billion) originally earmarked to cushion the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country, creating a significant new problem for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s quarrelsome coalition.
The money at stake was added retrospectively to the 2021 budget in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, under rules that allow new borrowing in emergencies despite Germany’s strict restrictions on running up new debt.
But it eventually wasn’t needed for that purpose, and the center-left Scholz’s three-party coalition decided in 2022 to put the money into what is now called its “climate and transformation fund,” arguing that investment in measures to protect the climate would help the economy recover from the pandemic.
Lawmakers with the main conservative opposition bloc contended that it was a trick to get around Germany’s so-called “debt brake,” and 197 of them complained to the Federal Constitutional Court.
The court ruled that the government’s move was unconstitutional and said that it will have to find other ways of filling the resulting hole in the climate fund.
The debt brake, introduced more than a decade ago, allows new borrowing to the tune of only 0.35% of annual gross domestic product.
It can be suspended to deal with natural disasters or other emergencies that are out of the state’s control, and was for the three years after the coronavirus pandemic started in 2020 to allow for large amounts of borrowing to finance various support and stimulus packages.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his pro-business Free Democrats have been particularly adamant about saving money to adhere to those rules, and the coalition also agreed at their insistence not to raise taxes when it took office in late 2021. Financing has been one of many sources of tension between the partners in a coalition that has become notorious for infighting.
veryGood! (629)
Related
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- The number of mothers who die due to pregnancy or childbirth is 'unacceptable'
- Rachel Bilson Baffled After Losing a Job Over Her Comments About Sex
- Can Solyndra’s Breakthrough Solar Technology Outlive the Company’s Demise?
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Nearly 1 in 5 adults have experienced depression — but rates vary by state, CDC report finds
- Diabetes and obesity are on the rise in young adults, a study says
- Big Three Automaker Gives Cellulosic Ethanol Industry a Needed Lift
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Alleged Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira indicted by federal grand jury
Ranking
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Obama Unveils Sharp Increase in Auto Fuel Economy
- Coronavirus ‘Really Not the Way You Want To Decrease Emissions’
- In Texas, Medicaid ends soon after childbirth. Will lawmakers allow more time?
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Girls in Texas could get birth control at federal clinics — until a dad sued
- Bindi Irwin is shining a light on this painful, underdiagnosed condition
- Your next job interview might be with AI. Here's how to ace it.
Recommendation
Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
Long Phased-Out Refrigeration and Insulation Chemicals Still Widely in Use and Warming the Climate
Honduran president ends ban on emergency contraception, making it widely available
Have you tried to get an abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned? Share your story
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Emma Heming Willis Wants to Talk About Brain Health
Dolce Vita's Sale Section Will Have Your Wardrobe Vacation-Ready on a Budget
Rachel Bilson Baffled After Losing a Job Over Her Comments About Sex