Abstract

Crisis Financing in the Federal State

In his article “Crisis Financing in the Federal State”, Hans-Günter Henneke presents the crisis financing of the Federal Republic of Germany between spring 2020 and early summer 2022 in the context of the call for a crisis management regime that has been discussed for several years. Within the framework of a comparison of the financing balances of the Federal Government, the Länder, the counties and municipalities, he identifies a considerable gap. The author then looks at the different budgetary responses of the Federal Government, the Länder, the counties and the municipalities to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. He notes that unlike the Federal Government and the Länder, for which exemptions from the debt brake that applies in principle are provided, there is no exemption regime available to the counties and municipalities in the event of a crisis. Finally, the author addresses, in the context of the ongoing proceedings before the German Federal Constitutional Court, the question of whether the Federal Government and the Länder have complied with the constitutional requirements and limits on the use of the emergency clause of the debt brake.