On Wednesday, the far -right political party, “Options for Germany,” received the largest donation of 1.5 million euros in history, highlighting how German political parties usually cover election funds.
advertisementOn Wednesday, as Germany was preparing for the election on February 23, the far -right political party, “Options for Germany,” received a donation of 1.5 million euros, the largest ever.
Donor Winfried Stucker is a millionaire medical entrepreneur, and in 2021 in 2021, in the middle of a new colon virus infection (COVID -19) pandemic, using his own jab to organize a illegal vaccination campaign. I was fined.
The donation indicated the largest inflow of funding in the history of AFD, and the maximum amount of a single covers was 35,000 euros.
Aside from fringing eyebrows, Stecker’s donation is completely legal and there is no limit on donations to German political parties.
Election exercise costs in this country are relatively cheap internationally. Nevertheless, the amount is steadily increasing, and according to the data compiled by Statista, the political parties represented by the Federal Congress spent 235 million euros in line with the 2021 election activities, and in 2017. It reached 184 million euros.
How can German political parties raise funds?
According to German laws, political parties can receive funds from the state, donations from members of the Diet, salaries of officials selected in elections, and donations from individuals and companies.
Most political parties rely on election activities and livelihoods to government funds. State funding accounts for more than one -third of the total income, and donations from members are the second most important source of income, and donations from individuals and companies account for some of them.
The amount of national funds received by each political party is determined by the relationship with society. It is usually calculated based on the number of votes obtained in recent elections at the European, state, and federal level and the amount of donations from members.
Critics usually discriminate against small political parties, rewarding for more established political parties, such as the right -wing Christian Democratic League (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of the Nakamichi Left (SPD). He criticizes that it is given.
However, small political parties are eligible to provide funds in countries that are limited to 50% of their income. Every year, the Federal Council sets up national funds. The total amount in 2024 was set to 219 million euros.
Are there any restrictions on political donations?
Taxpayers, party members, corporate and personal donors provide political parties with most of the funds that have not been issued by the government.
There are no restrictions on the donation amount that companies can receive from individuals and corporations or the amount that each party can spend on the campaign. This is not very common in the European Union, and 19 out of 27 members of the member countries have limited donations to political parties.
Despite the amendment of the law to enhance the transparency of donations, this law has been allowed to collect donations over time and donate directly or to political parties, as well as “VEREIN”. Critics say they have not explained the omission. advertisement.
However, political parties that collect such funds have been accused.
AFD had previously been accused of earning a profit from a 6 million euros illegal advertising campaign from 2016 to 2018 through a Swiss dummy company. Recently, the left -wing nationalist, Sarah Wargenht, has been repeatedly blamed for allegedly receiving a donation of 1.6 million euros from his owned organizations.
advertisementOne of the main rules for donations is that all donations exceeding 35,000 euros are reported to the Federal Congress and the information of the donors is published online.
Donations of less than 35,000 euros over 10,000 euros must be published in the annual report of each parties. However, these are open to the public only two years later.
Experts argue that rules are almost important
Analysts also suggest that these rules do not prevent individuals and companies from donating larger donations.
According to a public broadcasting ZDF survey, the CDU accepted a donation of about 50,000 euros from various district associations over three years from the main culprit of the Nortline Vestfahren.
advertisementMost of the donations were less than 10,000 euros, so they were not published in the report. It was also noted that the SPD regional branch in Zolingen received two 9,500 euros donations from the case.
NGOs and lobby organizations have called for further restrictions on political parties, such as the maximum donation and obligation to publish donations up to 2,000 euros.
This was discussed under the so -called “signal” coalition by the SPD, the Liberal Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), but the CDU eventually stopped.
“Companies and super wealthy people can benefit from the donation,” said the NGO lobby control Orulel Echuman, saying that there was no maximum donation to the Euro News.
advertisement“It is a concern that the super wealthy donors have become publicly supported by super -wealthy donations,” said Echmann’s huge donation.
“It is necessary to set up an upper limit on political parties in Germany to close the possibility of non -democratic influence,” concluded.
