Transitional provisions

- Constitution of Germany

Article 143d[Transitional provisions relating to consolidation assistance]

(1) Articles 109 and 115 in the version in force until 31 July 2009 shall apply for the last time to the 2010 budget. Articles 109 and 115 in the version in force as from 1 August 2009 shall apply for the first time to the 2011 budget; debit authorisations existing on 31 December 2010 for special trusts already established shall remain unaffected. In the period from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2019, the Länder may, in accordance with their applicable legal regulations, derogate from the provisions of paragraph (3) of Article 109. The budgets of the Länder are to be planned in such a way that the 2020 budget fulfils the requirements of the fifth sentence of paragraph (3) of Article 109. In the period from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015, the Federation may derogate from the provisions of the second sentence of paragraph (2) of Article 115. The reduction of the existing deficits should begin with the 2011 budget. The annual budgets are to be planned in such a way that the 2016 budget satisfies the requirement of the second sentence of paragraph (2) of Article 115; details shall be regulated by federal law.

(2) As assistance for compliance with the provisions of paragraph (3) of Article 109 after 1 January 2020, the Länder of Berlin, Bremen, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein may receive, for the period 2011 to 2019, consolidation assistance from the federal budget in the global amount of 800 million euros annually. The respective amounts are 300 million euros for Bremen, 260 million euros for Saarland and 80 million euros each for Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein. The assistance payments shall be allocated on the basis of an administrative agreement under the terms of a federal law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat. These grants require a complete reduction of financial deficits by the end of 2020. The details, especially the annual steps to be taken to reduce financial deficits and the supervision of the reduction of financial deficits by the Stability Council, along with the consequences entailed in case of failure to carry out the step-by-step reduction, shall be regulated by a federal law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat and by an administrative agreement. Consolidation assistance shall not be granted concurrently with redevelopment assistance awarded on the grounds of an extreme budgetary emergency.

(3) The financial burden resulting from the granting of the consolidation assistance shall be borne equally by the Federation and the Länder, to be financed from their share of revenue from the turnover tax. Details shall be regulated by a federal law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat.

(4) As assistance for future autonomous compliance with the provisions of paragraph (3) of Article 109, the Länder of Bremen and Saarland may receive redevelopment assistance from the federal budget in the global amount of 800 million euros annually from 1 January 2020. To this end, the Länder shall adopt measures to reduce excessive debts and to strengthen their economic and financial capacity. Details shall be regulated by a federal law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat. This redevelopment assistance shall not be granted concurrently with redevelopment assistance awarded on the grounds of an extreme budgetary emergency.