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Bundeswehr special assets not affected by budget freeze

Gerhard Heiming

November 24, 2023

According to a press report, the BMVg felt compelled to clarify on the morning of November 23rd that the Bundeswehr special fund was in principle exempt from the budget freeze that Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner had imposed on November 21st. Initially, a statement from the ministry stated that commitment authorizations would not be used for projects that were not fully financed from the special fund. This applies, for example, to projects that will no longer be financed from the special fund from 2028, but from individual plan 14.

Three hours later, the BMVg reported on joint final coordination with the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and explained that “the Bundeswehr special fund is exempt from the requirements of the budget freeze and the commitment authorizations from the special fund's 2023 economic plan are not subject to a freeze. The precautionary extension of the budget freeze to commitment authorizations from the Bundeswehr special fund was lifted by a supplementary decree.”

This means that projects financed from the special fund can continue to be contracted without restrictions. As long as the budget freeze exists, no new contracts can be concluded for projects financed from Section 14. Ongoing projects – i.e. those for which legally valid contracts exist – will continue unaffected.

Soweit bekannt, unterliegt der Einzelplan 60, aus dem über die Ertüchtigungsinitiative der Bundesregierung die Unterstützung der Ukraine finanziert wird, der Haushaltssperre.

When announcing the budget freeze, Lindner pointed out that if there is an urgent need, the ministries can apply for an exception to the budget freeze in individual cases. This would allow time-critical projects to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities to continue to be commissioned.

In the last few days, final commitments were made for two projects that will be financed from the special fund. On November 21st, the President of the BAAINBw, Annette Lehnigk-Emden, signed a supplementary contract for the procurement of three additional P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance and submarine hunting aircraft. On November 23, the German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, signed the contract for the procurement of three Arrow missile defense systems.

Gerhard Heiming

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