German Unity Fund

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The “Deutsche Einheit” fund was a federal special fund . It was one of the financing packages with the help of which the five new federal states were to be rehabilitated after the reunification of 1990 (see Costs of German Unity ). Until 1994, this fund replaced the financial equalization between poorer and richer federal states customary in the old Federal Republic for the new federal states.

The German Unity Fund (FDE) was founded in 1990 with the aim of securing the basic financial resources of the East German regional authorities . The fund volume was originally intended to total 115 billion German marks (DM) for the period from 1990 to 1994 , with a degressive reduction in the annual funding amounts from 1991 onwards. This volume has been increased several times through increases.

In May 1990 a financial volume of 115 billion DM was planned. Three months later the amount was increased to 146.3 billion DM and in March 1993 to 160.7 billion DM. This means that between 1990 and 1994, a total of 82.2 billion euros in earmarked funds were paid out, 40 percent of which went to the East German municipalities . The fund obtained most of its funds from the credit market, only a small part was granted as a federal grant. The federal government and the western German states and municipalities contributed to the FDE's loan costs. The payments were made on a pro rata basis by the federal government (25.37 billion euros), the old states (8.22 billion euros) and a loan from the fund (48.57 billion euros).

According to the unification agreement , the fund should be dissolved at the end of 1994 with the reorganization of the state financial equalization (inclusion of the eastern states).

The debt should the federal government and states to pay off half was being provided that the countries should receive a refund of twenty percent of their share of the municipalities. Since 1993 the municipalities have borne around 40 percent of the burden of the old federal states. According to the Deutsche Bundesbank , the fund had a debt load of 38.6 billion euros at the end of 2004. As of January 1, 2005, the federal government took over the fund's liabilities as a joint debtor; these have since been integrated into the federal debt of the federal budget . However, in order to compensate for this, the federal government's share of sales tax has been increased and state financial equalization services have been reduced. The legislature put the resulting burden on the old federal states at around € 2.6 billion annually up to 2019.

See also

Development of Eastern Germany

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Municipalities have to pay for the German Unity Fund. Sozialticker.de, April 11, 2008, archived from the original on November 21, 2008 ; accessed on November 10, 2015 .