Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann has called for negotiations on the state financial equalization. You have to take a close look at the equalization of financial power and make adjustments if necessary, said the Green politician on Tuesday in Stuttgart.
“It can’t all be right when, in principle, three countries contribute well over 90 percent of the financial power balance and Bavaria pays practically half of the 20 billion,” said Kretschmann. “There’s a real imbalance there.” Alongside Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, Hesse is one of the largest donor states.
Kretschmann’s counterpart, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, had previously announced that he would file a lawsuit against the state financial equalization in the first half of the year. “It’s just unfair and unjust,” said the CSU chairman of “Bild am Sonntag”. Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) had also described a lawsuit as an “option”.
Five donor states – Hamburg and Rhineland-Palatinate in addition to those mentioned – paid 18.5 billion euros to the eleven financially weaker federal states last year. Bavaria contributed more than half of this with payments of 9.9 billion euros. A pain limit had been reached, said Söder.
He understands Söder’s lawsuit, said Kretschmann on Tuesday. It is annoying, for example, when countries that benefit from the compensation afford exemption from kindergarten fees. One wants to remain in solidarity, but that must remain within limits. “And I can see that he’s already under a lot of strain here.”
However, the state financial equalization in its new form was only decided in 2017, said Kretschmann – and Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg agreed, albeit with a heavy heart. He sees no lawsuit that would be promising.
In 2013, Bavaria and Hesse had already filed a lawsuit against the state financial equalization system at the time, but withdrew their lawsuit in 2017 after the financial relations between the federal and state governments were reorganized. The system is now called financial power equalization. It serves the goal enshrined in the Basic Law of creating equal living conditions in Germany.
“Kick-off Politics” is WELT’s daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, among others, or directly via RSS feed.
