Rudolstadt/Erfurt (dpa/th) – Thuringia’s Court of Auditors is critical of the allowance of 1,700 euros that parliamentary directors receive in the Thuringian state parliament. The previous case law suggests that the allowance is not compatible with the freedom of the mandate and the principle of equal treatment. This is also the attitude of the Court of Auditors, MDR Thüringen reported on Saturday.
He is referring to a judgment by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2000 and a decision by the Thuringian Constitutional Court in July of this year. The Thuringian judgment states that the “payment of such functional allowances requires constitutional justification”. According to the MDR, the Thuringia Taxpayers’ Association is also critical of the allowance.
In recent years, Thuringia’s top financial auditors have repeatedly been critical of allowances that MPs receive for certain functions within their parliamentary groups. The functional allowance for parliamentary directors in the amount of 28 percent of the basic salary has been paid since October 2021. This was preceded by an amendment to the Members’ Act.
The parliamentary groups of the Left, SPD, Greens and CDU decided on them as part of the financial rules for the newly formed FDP group. The group spokespersons, in addition to the FDP now also the group Citizens for Thuringia, have since received the corresponding allowance. At the same time, the tax-free expense allowance for parliamentary directors was abolished. According to the MDR, this amounted to a maximum of around 590 euros per month.
According to the MDR report, the factions of the left, SPD, Greens and CDU as well as the state parliament administration defend the allowance. Since the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court, the scope and complexity of the tasks of the parliamentary managing directors have increased considerably. The parliamentary groups said, among other things, that the amount of the allowance was low compared to the federal states.