Financial monopoly
Of financial monopolies is called to generate revenue for an exclusive right of the state from the sale of certain goods and services. Financial monopolies are thus in direct contrast to the basic right to freedom of occupation (Article 12 of the Basic Law ) and are therefore criticized in the academic literature as “relics from the time of the entrepreneurial state that are alien to the system”.
Nevertheless, they are explicitly permitted in the Basic Law. See Art. 106 I GG: "The income from the financial monopolies and the revenue from the following taxes are due to the federal government: ...". However, the Federal Constitutional Court has drawn the framework of the admissibility of financial monopolies very narrowly and has been denying the state right to re-establish these monopolies for decades.
Area of application of the financial monopoly
In Germany there were two financial monopolies: the ignition goods monopoly and the spirits monopoly . After the abolition of the ignition goods monopoly in 1983, only the spirits monopoly introduced in 1919 is de iure relevant. However, today its function is limited (after extensive changes) to the voluntary takeover and marketing of agricultural alcohol . It has thus lost its function as a monopoly. Numerous small and medium-sized agricultural distilleries are protected from competition with the world market by the spirits monopoly and it enables them to operate economically. The federal budget has subsidized the monopoly since 1976. Even today, almost EUR 80 million annually flow from the federal budget to the monopoly, which is why it is considered an agricultural subsidy tool and is therefore fundamentally subject to EC competition law.
Initially, Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 (uniform GMO regulation) contained an exemption for Germany. On January 1, 2011, Regulation (EU) No. 1234/2010 of December 15, 2010 (EU Spirits Monopoly Extension Regulation) amending Article 182 (4) of Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 (Regulation on the uniform GMO) came into force. The ordinance essentially provides that the exemption, initially limited to December 31, 2010 and only directed at Germany, on granting production-related subsidies after the spirits monopoly will be extended for the last time.
In general, in the course of the European internal market, the exclusive monopoly areas of all financial monopolies in the European Community ceased to exist in 1976 . As a result, they have no longer been able to act as monopolies. There used to be extensive financial monopolies in Italy (salt monopoly, tobacco monopoly), France (including monopolies for salt, tobacco, brandy), but also a salt and tobacco monopoly in Austria. In contrast to these former monopolies, there is still a comprehensive cantonal salt monopoly in Switzerland today.
See also
literature
- Helko Ueberschär: Financial monopolies in the EC with special consideration of the German spirits monopoly , wvb Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Berlin 2008.
- Otto Gandenberger : The financial monopoly. Fiscal. u. outside fiscal. Effects in comparison z. Excise duty , source u. Meyer, Heidelberg 1968.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helko Ueberschär: Financial monopolies in the EC with special consideration of the German spirits monopoly , wvb Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Berlin 2008, page 4.
- ↑ Helko Ueberschär: Financial monopolies in the EC with special consideration of the German spirits monopoly , wvb Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Berlin 2008, page 116.
