WDisruption, tragedy, unprecedented breach of trust – the federal and state governments are once again fighting for money. Specifically, it is about financing the costs associated with increasing numbers of refugees. Another meeting of the heads of government of the federal states with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is planned for November. It should be prepared carefully. After a working group meeting was broken off at the beginning of the week without any results, nerves are on edge.
What happened? In the past, the federal and state governments often sought a compromise at short notice given current events. Now there is a lot of talk about a “breathing system”. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) recently increased the pressure by warning in the FAZ interview of an “unprecedented breach of trust that would cause immense social damage” if the traffic light ignored Scholz’s “crystal clear commitment”.
The states are now saying in frustration: The federal government has offered a breathing system: but with 5,000 euros per person per year, the 330,000 refugees assumed would come to up to 1.7 billion euros. That would be less than half the amount the federal government is paying this year. The anger is correspondingly great.
Not the usual tug of war
“If the federal government believes that it can even provide states and municipalities with fewer resources, then it has simply not recognized the seriousness of the situation,” said Baden-Württemberg’s Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz (Greens) to the FAZ. This is not about the usual federal issue Tug of war, but rather the question of whether the municipalities could still do justice to their local public services. “The federal government is putting this at risk,” he warned.
In the Federal Ministry of Finance, things are seen – unsurprisingly – differently. “The accusation that the federal government has announced a funding cut is not true,” emphasizes a spokesman. The federal and state governments agreed in November 2022 that the federal government would support the states with a general refugee-related flat rate of 1.25 billion euros annually from 2023.
For this year, another 1.5 billion euros have been promised for refugees from Ukraine. And in May another billion was added – a one-off. In view of the existing challenges, the federal government has shown a willingness to compromise and has offered 1.7 billion euros for next year, emphasizes the spokesman.
A shovel on it
The states rejected the offer. They see themselves as administrators for the municipalities. They actually have to ensure that they have sufficient financial resources. But experience has shown that their own household is often more important to them. The municipalities obviously fear that they will once again be left alone to deal with the local problems.
“The bottom line is that more money must go to the municipalities for the accommodation, care and integration of refugees than before,” demands City Council President Markus Lewe. The federal government must finally move and take things a step further. This includes fully covering the costs of accommodation.
There also needs to be discussion about means for integration. “It is important that at the end there is a breathing financing system that adapts to the number of refugees, is permanent and does not always have to be renegotiated.”
Lack of limitation and control
The mayor of the city of Münster called the result of the latest working group a tragedy. District President Reinhard Sager notes that the federal government is responsible for the lack of limits and controls on immigration and thus the significant increase in costs at the local level. “If he not only doesn’t want to expand his financial participation, but even wants to halve it compared to the states, that’s the bottom of the barrel.” That couldn’t be the result of a months-long working group process.
The municipal umbrella associations are on the barricades because the current financial forecast shows them a tipping point in the regional states: a surplus of a good 2 billion euros last year is likely to become a deficit of almost 10 billion euros in 2024. The federal government can, in turn, point to previous concessions. In this way, he supports people from Ukraine through citizen’s money – in addition to the promised lump sums.
“Overall, since 2016, the federal government has relieved the states of around 48 billion in refugee and integration costs alone,” calculates the Finance Ministry led by Christian Lindner (FDP). But that’s not all: In the recent double crisis, the federal government had to take on new debt for longer and far more than states and municipalities – with lower tax revenue. Since 2020, it has received less of the revenue than the federal states. Can he or does he have to give up more?
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