Auf dem Wege zum Bundesfinanzrat? Anmerkungen zum Gutachten des Wissenschaftlichen Beirats beim BMF 'Haushaltskrisen im Bundesstaat'

摘要

The growing disarray of the German budgetary situation can no longer be ignored. In as much as sub-sovereign entities as Berlin, Saarland, Bremen are or will be claiming substantial subsidies in the Constitutional Court, the academic establishment begins to ponder upon the institutional design of public spending in Germany in general and the institutional challenge of fiscal emergency in the Lander (sub-sovereign entities) in particular. The proposals, however impractical as most of them are, lead to a key question: Can the management of the budget and fiscal policy in general any longer be left in the hands of politicians or do we need - not only in case of fiscal emergency - a new constitutional organ which for the whole state sets rules for public spending and is authorized to intervene in regional and national fiscal emergencies? The proposals submitted by the Academic Advisory Council of the Ministry of Finance are neither new nor original. But they have the merit to kick off- late but not too late - a fundamental debate on the institutional framework of German budget policy.