The Green Party parliamentary group is reportedly preparing a legal challenge to the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) over what they allege is the misappropriation of funds from the €500 billion special asset for infrastructure. This move reflects growing opposition to the federal government’s management of the fund and follows intense criticism regarding its intended purpose.
According to sources within the Green Party, cited by the news magazine “Focus”, the group is currently examining various avenues for legal action. The escalating concern stems from a recent annual report by the Council of Experts, a body advising the government, which sharply criticized the allocation strategy. The report concluded that a significant portion of the special asset’s funds were being used to supplant already planned investment projects, instead of supplementing them. The Council of Experts further underscored the lack of any obligation for states or the Climate and Transformation Fund to allocate additional resources alongside the special asset funding.
Adding to the legal scrutiny, constitutional law expert Kyrill-Alexander Schwarz of the University of Würzburg has deemed the current practice “constitutionally highly questionable”. He points to a November 2023 ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, emphasizing the principle of a “strict adherence and judicial oversight of the financial constitution”. That earlier ruling rebuked the previous “traffic light” coalition government for redirecting COVID-19 relief funds into the Climate and Transformation Fund.
However, the Green Party’s own finance policy spokesperson, Sebastian Schäfer, has acknowledged potential procedural hurdles to launching a constitutional challenge. Crucially, the Green Party, unlike the opposition during the previous parliamentary session, lacks the automatic right to file a norm control application to the Federal Constitutional Court regarding the federal budget. Such a challenge requires the support of at least one-quarter of the Bundestag members – a threshold the Greens struggle to meet independently. Despite this obstacle, Schäfer stated that the group is “examining possible options” suggesting a determination to find a path to judicial review, despite the significant political and procedural complexities. The move signals a deepening conflict within the German political landscape over the appropriate use of substantial public funds and underlines the critical role of constitutional safeguards.
