Price Act (Germany)

Basic data
Title:	Transitional law on pricing and price monitoring
Short title:	Price law
Abbreviation:	PriceG
Type:	Federal law
Scope:	Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter:	Commercial administrative law
References :	720-1
Issued on:	April 10, 1948 ; ( WiGBl. P. 27)
Entry into force on:	April 1, 1948
Last change by:	Art. 22 G of February 18, 1986 ; ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 265, 270 )
Effective date of the ; last change:	May 1, 1986 ; (Art. 53 G of February 18, 1986)
	Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

Preisgesetz is the official abbreviation for the German transitional law on pricing and price monitoring .

The Price Act (PreisG) was enacted on April 10, 1948 by the Economic Council for the United Economic Area and promulgated on April 21, 1948 ( WiGBl. P. 27). It initially only applied to the American and British occupation zones in Germany, but its scope was extended by federal law with effect from January 1, 1950 to the countries of the French occupation zone , to which the Bavarian district of Lindau also belonged. In the course of the decades it lost its importance and is now limited to a few factual areas of application.

background

By the price law the director of the administration for economy of the united economic area (director for economy) and the highest state authorities were empowered to “issue orders and dispositions, through which prices , rents , leases , fees and other remuneration for goods and services of every kind, excepted Wages to be fixed or approved, or by which the price level is to be maintained ”.

The authorization granted to the director of economics has passed to the Federal Minister of Economics in accordance with Article 129 of the Basic Law .

In view of the expectations associated with the currency reform in the western zones, the Price Act according to Section 16 was to expire on December 31, 1948. However, price-regulating state measures could not be dispensed with in the period that followed. Already in direct connection with the currency reform, on June 24, 1948 the “Law on Principles for Management and Price Policy after the Monetary Reform” and on June 25, 1948 the “Order on Price Formation and Price Monitoring After the Currency Reform” were issued. The latter stipulated that - regardless of the medium-term economic policy goal of price release - the fixed price regulations for agricultural commodities and products, energy, pharmaceuticals, raw materials , rents and leases, certain cultural goods and transport charges would remain in force as maximum, fixed or minimum price regulations.

In the following period, price regulations were more and more overridden. Currently, only a few statutory ordinances based on the authorization of Section 2 PreisG are still in force, e.g. B. Regulation PR No. 30/53 on prices for public contracts of November 21, 1953, which does not apply to construction work. However, there are price and tariff regulations regulated by special law , e.g. B. for pharmaceuticals and in the transportation industry . The remuneration for the activity of the liberal professions is largely regulated by fee schedules and remuneration laws.

The validity of the law itself has been extended several times, most recently by the federal law of March 29, 1951 “until a new price law comes into force”. Should an economic policy necessity arise, both the Federal Minister of Economics and the highest state authorities can make use of the authorizations contained in the Price Act at any time.

According to a decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of November 12, 1958, the Price Act is compatible with the Basic Law.

In orders for the public sector, market prices are generally to be agreed. If this is not possible, for example due to a lack of suppliers, a fixed cost price or a cost reference price and, in exceptional cases, a cost reimbursement price can be agreed according to the guiding principles for price determination on the basis of cost according to the order of the so-called "price stair" . The determination of the prime costs is one of the tasks of the operational cost and performance accounting . The price monitoring offices of the federal states can - depending on the agreed price type - check before, during and after the order whether the costs invoiced are reasonable. Public clients also have to take into account the regulations of public procurement law .

Arms contracts

Moreover, the Federal Office for equipment, information technology and use of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw) - formerly the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB) - for defense contracts a private limited and contracted to be agreed to audit for cost fixed prices and cost target prices according to a departmental agreement between the Federal Ministry of Defense and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology . In the discussion about armaments procurement for the Bundeswehr in October 2014, Georg Wilhelm Adamowitsch , General Manager of the Federation of the German Security and Defense Industries , pointed out that the armaments companies only have a profit margin of a maximum of 6% due to public pricing law. This profit margin is an imputed profit surcharge, determined according to the so-called Bonn formula, on top of the prime costs determined in accordance with the principles for price determination on the basis of prime costs, which also contain imputed components (e.g. interest). According to Bontrup , the state could "achieve billions in savings if the price law were amended accordingly".

Current development

The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) announced the end of 2013 a report on the importance and relevance of VO PR 30/53 in order. The position should be determined taking into account the necessity, meaning and purpose of sovereign price regulations for the award of public supply and service contracts. The Institute for Research and Transfer (RIF) e. V. in Dortmund or a bidding consortium consisting of RIF eV and Oliver Dörr - the report was carried out by Oliver Dörr and Andreas Hoffjan . The report is now available, approved and published by the BMWi. On the basis of this report and the recommendations, the BMWi will decide on an amendment to the regulations of public pricing law.