08/12/2022 13:03 (act 08/12/2022 13:03)
Personnel expenses for Schröder’s office in 2021 over 400,000 euros © APA / dpa
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is suing the Bundestag to restore privileges he revoked in May. The 78-year-old demands that a former chancellor’s office with staff be made available to him again, as his Hanoverian lawyer Michael Nagel told the German press agency on Friday. The case was filed at the administrative court in Berlin, Nagel said.
The committee justified the cancellation of the funds on the fact that Schröder “no longer has ongoing obligations from his post as former chancellor”. This eliminates “the reason for the former Chancellor’s personnel and facilities,” the May ruling said.
The Bundestag Budget Committee’s decision to cut Schröder’s funds to equip his Bundestag office and put him on hold is illegal, according to a statement from the law firm available to dpa. It is “stated that former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder no longer addresses the so-called ‘after-effects of official duties'”. be determined and what procedure should be followed otherwise,” the statement continues.
The entire process is “written on the forehead that reasons other than those specified by the “new rules” were decisive for the decision of the budget committee”. Such decisions are more reminiscent of an absolutist princely state “in terms of the way they came about” and should not last in a democratic constitutional state, Schröder’s lawyers explained.
Schröder has been heavily criticized for his commitment to Russian energy companies and his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the budget committee did not justify partially canceling Schröder’s privileges with his work for energy companies or his attitude towards the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. On the contrary, the “equipment of former chancellors must be carried out in accordance with the ongoing obligations of the Cabinet”, the regulation reads. Apparently, parliamentarians could not see this in Schröder.
Last year, more than 400,000 euros left the state coffers for personnel expenses in Schröder’s office. Schröder will continue to receive his 8,300 euro pension after the decision, as well as personal security.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) hailed the May decision as “logical”. In the context of the decision, the European Parliament came out in favor of sanctions against Schröder by a large majority. It was only on Monday that the SPD arbitration committee in Hanover, Schröder’s hometown, rejected the expulsion of the former party chancellor.
Because of its lawsuit against the Bundestag, the CSU denied the former chancellor any decency. “Gerhard Schröder has lost all sense of decency,” CSU Secretary General Martin Huber wrote on Twitter on Friday. “As Putin’s lobbyist, he definitely does not represent German interests. In return, he wants special rights at the taxpayer’s expense? Brazen!” He added: “But he’s still very welcome in the SPD.”
The FDP defended the Bundestag’s decision to withdraw special rights. “The budget committee rightly removed Gerhard Schröder and his posts,” said Stephan Thomae, parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag. The official equipment is intended so that the Federal Chancellor can continue to perform tasks for the country after his term in office. “Exactly the opposite is the case with Mr. Schröder, he is clearly acting against the interests of Germany”, emphasized the FDP politician.
German Bundestag vice president Wolfgang Kubicki reacted calmly. “I think the probability of success of Gerhard Schröder’s case against the German Bundestag is extremely low, but it is his right to have it verified by a court,” said the FDP vice-president. Kubicki said that regardless of this legal dispute, it would make sense if there were clear guidelines for the chancellor’s follow-up offices. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said: “Basically, legal recourse is open to everyone in a legal dispute.”
So far, there has been no legal regulation on what equipment former foreign ministers are entitled to at state expense – such as office space and staff. While the pensions of the Federal President and members of the Federal Cabinet are regulated by law, the allocation for former Chancellors is based solely on decisions of the Budget Committee of the Bundestag.