Content of the Constitutional Complaint

The Own Resources Decision-Ratification Act (ERatG) declares Germany's consent to the Union's debt of 750 billion euros with a term of 38 years. This debt is part of the Own Resources Decision of the Council of December 14, 2020.

The Own Resources Decision only comes into force when all member states have agreed in accordance with their constitutional provisions. Once consent is granted, it cannot be revoked. Therefore, a petition to the Federal Constitutional Court must secure that Germany does not grant its consent before a decision is made on the constitutionality of the consent law.

By granting consent to the Union's debt, the EU's financing system is fundamentally changed. It is a step towards a fiscal union. This will also affect the autonomous scope of action of German budget policy. Therefore, the consent law has at least a constitutional-amending effect. It thus requires – like a constitutional-amending law – two-thirds majorities in the Bundestag and Bundesrat.

Planned Legal Action

The Marburg constitutional law professor Hans-Detlef Horn, commissioned by the non-profit association Citizens' Alliance, filed the lawsuit today along with an application for a preliminary injunction at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. The aim of the preliminary injunction is to prevent the Federal President from issuing the law until a decision is made on the constitutional complaint.

The application to the Federal Constitutional Court described above was filed on March 22, 2021. However, we also request that the Federal Constitutional Court examines whether the consent law is inherently unconstitutional, which would mean that Germany is not allowed to consent to the intended debt of the Union. This would violate the democratic constitutional identity of the Basic Law. The focus is particularly on two aspects:

• First, the authorization for the Union's debt violates the existing treaties, making it an ultra vires act.

  • On the one hand, the authorization to raise foreign funds does not involve a decision about the Union's own resources, which can only be included in an own resources decision.

  • On the other hand, member states are obliged to mutual liability for the debts incurred, which contradicts the fundamental principle of the Union that member states act independently in their fiscal policy and do not take on each other's liabilities.

   

• Secondly, granting consent to the Union's debt means that the Bundestag no longer has control over its budgetary rights.

  • On the one hand, the regulations on liability for incurred debts stipulate that only the Commission decides whether and when, to what extent, and from which member state it collects contributions for the repayment of the debts.

  • On the other hand, the cap on member states' liabilities is set so high that potentially only Germany could be held liable for the entire debt sum of 750 billion euros.