KShortly before the refugee summit, the tone between the federal and state governments has intensified: In an internal paper, the federal states accuse the Chancellery of making incorrect calculations. In fact, the federal government has actually reduced its aid in recent years despite the increasing number of refugees, according to the 15-page paper from the finance ministers’ conference, which is available to the Reuters news agency. It was sent to the other 15 countries on Sunday evening by the Lower Saxony presidency of the Prime Ministers’ Conference (MPK). On Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet the 16 prime ministers.
The argument that the federal government has an ever smaller share of tax revenue is disputed. “According to the delimitation of the official statistics, the federal government’s share of tax revenue was 41.2 percent in 2021, while the state share was 40.5 percent,” the paper says. “With all due respect for the inconveniences of fiscal policy in times of tightening financial leeway, the federal government must finally start solving its budget problems in its own spending positions and not engage in a bogus debate that the federal states are to blame for its budget problems.”
Countries demand 1000 euros per refugee
For its part, the Federal Government rejects an increase in allocations demanded by the federal states, arguing that according to the Basic Law, the federal states and local authorities are responsible and that the federal government has voluntarily taken on benefits in recent years, which in 2023 will already amount to 15, would amount to 6 billion euros.
While the federal government points out that the number of asylum seekers is now roughly at the level of 2014 – i.e. before the federal government started massive financial aid – the new state paper argues differently: in 2022 there were 244,000 asylum applications ( First and follow-up applications) a lower number than in the years 2015/16. However, it is significantly higher than in all other years. In addition, reference is made to the dynamics: the number of asylum applications (excluding Ukraine war refugees) since 2022 has already been more than 20 percent higher than in 2014 and in the first three months of 2023 again 80 percent higher than a year ago.
The paper even flatly denies the representation of the federal government: “The previous peak of federal payments to the federal states in the context of refugee financing was in 2016 at 9.1 billion euros. In 2023, the federal government will give the federal states a total of 2.75 billion euros in refugee-related benefits. In 2024, the amount falls to 1.25 billion euros and remains unchanged at this level under current law.”
Among other things, the federal states are demanding that the federal government return to a flat rate per case per refugee. Instead of the previous flat rate of 670 euros per month, they now want a higher amount. “An update based on the latest data would result in an amount of around 1,000 euros per refugee,” the paper says.
Greens chairwoman Ricarda Lang joined the demands of the federal states for more money from the federal government. The “actual problems” on site include “above all the lack of money,” said Lang on Sunday evening in the ARD program “Report from Berlin”. “Now it’s a matter of protecting communities that are particularly affected.”
Federal government apparently against a significant increase in financial aid
Lang told the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” that the municipalities had “achieved incredible things last year”. She thinks it would be “wrong if the federal and state governments now point to each other and emphasize what they have already done,” she added. There is a common interest that good solutions can be found locally. “If support is needed for this, the federal government must help, including financially,” said the Green Party leader.
Lang’s position on financing the costs contradicts a draft resolution from the traffic light government that was available to the ARD capital studio. Accordingly, the federal government is not planning any significant increase in refugee aid for states and municipalities. The paper states that the federal government is already providing billions in support, while the federal states and local authorities have surpluses in the billions.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) called on the federal government to assume at least half of the costs for the accommodation and integration of refugees. “The 16 states have agreed across parties that the federal and state governments should share the costs, i.e. at least 50:50,” said Wüst of the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post” and the Bonn “General-Anzeiger”.
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