On March 25, 2021, the Bundestag approved the own resource decision. The Bundesrat’s approval took place on March 26, 2021.

The action is outrageous because the EU is obligated under the European treaties to finance its budget “entirely from own resources” (Article 311 TFEU). Debts are not own resources. They are borrowed capital. With a dubious legal construction, the EU is trying to circumvent the clear will of the treaties. The current approach stands in direct contradiction to the response the EU Commission gave on June 3, 2015, to the inquiry of a member of the European Parliament: “Regarding the obligation to balance the EU budget, the consistent interpretation of this article over time is that the EU budget cannot be balanced by the issuance of state debts.

“During the debate in the Bundestag, the Federal Minister of Finance did not express criticism regarding the breach of contract and the fact that the indebtedness of the EU budget creates a liability union among the member states, which has long been rejected by Germany; on the contrary, he celebrated it: “It is the way into fiscal union, and it is a good way for Europe’s future.”

Alternative proposals to overcome the Corona crisis

The constitutional complaint is by no means about undermining efforts to overcome the Corona crisis. On the contrary: We firmly believe that it is right for EU member states to take on high debts at present to assist those who are innocently endangered in their economic existence or need medical support. But debts must be incurred in accordance with applicable law. Nothing stands in the way of EU member states doing this under their own responsibility, and nothing stands in the way of them making part of the borrowed funds available to the EU to enable the EU to finance community tasks. We can do it! Even a highly indebted country like Italy currently has to pay less than 0.5% interest for a ten-year government bond. Each EU member state is free to use as many resources for crisis management as it sees fit. But especially in a crisis, state funds should be used sensibly and efficiently. This is primarily ensured by using one’s own money. Those who are allowed to spend the funds of other states tend to waste, be inefficient, and over-commit. This is what the founding fathers of the EU wanted to prevent when they prohibited the EU from financing its budget with borrowed funds.

Alliance of Citizens' Will has the legality of borrowing reviewed by the highest court

The future of Europe is close to all our hearts – but it must not be promoted through blatant violations of the law. The EU has constantly insisted on adherence to the rule of law by its member countries in recent years. It must hold itself to these standards. Therefore, the legality of the EU's borrowing should be reviewed by the highest court. The Alliance of Citizens' Will has commissioned Prof. Dr. iur. Hans-Detlef-Horn from the University of Marburg to draft a constitutional complaint. The constitutional complaint is led by a group of professors, mostly professors of economics or business administration.

On March 26, 2021, we filed a constitutional complaint, which is led among others by Prof. Dr. Bernd Lucke, Prof. Dr. Ing. E.h. Hans-Olaf Henkel, Prof. Dr. Joachim Starbatty, Prof. Dr. Roland Vaubel, and Prof. Dr. Jörn Kruse. A total of 2281 citizens have joined the constitutional complaint. Joining the constitutional complaint is no longer possible. However, you are welcome to support the proceedings with a donation:

Contents of the constitutional complaint and legal action

Germany must formally ratify the own resource decision of the EU Council. This is equivalent to consent to an international treaty. Therefore, the approval law may (presumably) already be challenged before it is signed by the Federal President. We intend to initially apply to the Federal Constitutional Court for a temporary injunction that prevents the enactment of the law until the pending legal questions are clarified. Until Germany has ratified, the EU is not authorized to take out loans. In the actual constitutional complaint, we will raise both a formal and a substantive legal question. The formal legal question relates to whether the approval law did not require a legislative procedure in which the Bundestag must approve by a two-thirds majority because, in fact, the approval law entails a substantial change to the EU treaties and infringes upon the constitutionally protected budgetary rights of the German Bundestag. Regarding the substantive legal question, we argue that there is no authorization in union law for the own resource decision of the Council. This is the so-called “ultra-vires control,” which is derived from Article 38 (1), Article 23 (1), Article 79 (3) of the Basic Law. Secondly, we argue that the own resource decision impairs the overall budgetary responsibility of the Bundestag – this is the so-called “constitutional identity control.” 

[More information about the contents of the constitutional complaint]

https://buendnis-buergerwille.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/VB-gg-ERatG-VB_publ.pdf

We would be very pleased if you also want to support us financially; we would be very grateful for a donation to the account of the Alliance of Citizens' Will e. V., Volksbank Ahrweiler, IBAN DE57 5776 1591 0415 6723 00. (Donations are tax-deductible within the legal limits. A donation receipt will be sent to you unsolicited.)