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Germany to significantly cut budget for digitalising services

The German government is to slash the budget for the mammoth task of digitalisation by more than €300 million to make savings, it has emerged.

Published: 4 August 2023 16:59 CEST
A laptop
Germany isn't known for its digital access. Photo: Pixabay.

People who’ve spent any time in Germany will be well aware of the limitations of digital infrastructure, with public offices still heavily relying on paperwork and in-person appointments. 

The German government had been trying to address this issue through the Online Access Act (OZG). The coalition, made up of the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats, said it wanted to modernise systems and make life easier for residents by putting hundreds of government services online.

But it’s now emerged that only a fraction of money has been earmarked for this next year. 

READ ALSO: German government urges immigration authorities to go digital

According to the budget plans, the Interior Ministry has earmarked €3.3 million for the digitalisation of administration and administrative services next year – compared to €377 million this year.

The budget cutdown was first reported on by German newspaper FAZ, while the Interior Ministry later confirmed the figures to broadcaster ARD.

According to FAZ, the cuts mainly affect administrative services that should have been digitalised by the end of 2022 under the Online Access Act.

Savings are also to be made in the budget for the “Digital Identities” project, which aims to provide German residents with legally secure identification online. It is considered the key to many state services as well as for banks or telecommunications providers.

A spokesperson for the Federal Digital Ministry said funding was still secure for central projects concerning the digital strategy. 

The Ministry added that funds left over from previous budget years would also be used to advance digital infrastructure. 

Germany lags behind many of its neighbours when it comes to how well countries are doing on digital skills and internet access. According to the EU’s Digital Economy and Society Index for 2022, Germany took the 13th spot just behind France in the ranking.

In general, the budget cuts are part of Germany’s aim to reign in cash after years of big spending, particularly during the Covid pandemic. 

Overall, the government forecasts spending €445.7 billion in 2024, down from €476.3 billion planned for the current year. 

A draft budget was presented earlier in summer and will be debated in parliament from September.

READ ALSO: German cabinet approves belt-tightening budget for 2024

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CRIME

German far-right politician fined €13,000 for using Nazi slogan

A German court has convicted one of the country's most controversial far-right politicians, Björn Höcke, of deliberately using a banned Nazi slogan at a rally.

Published: 15 May 2024 08:43 CEST
German far-right politician fined €13,000 for using Nazi slogan

The court fined Höcke, 52, of the far-right AfD party, €13,000 for using the phrase “Alles fuer Deutschland” (“Everything for Germany”) during a 2021 campaign rally.

Once a motto of the so-called Sturmabteilung paramilitary group that played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, the phrase is illegal in modern-day Germany, along with the Nazi salute and other slogans and symbols from that era.

The former high school history teacher claimed not to have been aware that the phrase had been used by the Nazis, telling the court he was “completely not guilty”.

Höcke said he thought the phrase was an “everyday saying”.

But prosecutors argued that Höcke used the phrase in full knowledge of its “origin and meaning”.

They had sought a six-month suspended sentence plus two years’ probation, and a payment of €10,000 to a charitable organisation.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, after the trial, Höcke said the “ability to dissent is in jeopardy”.

“If this verdict stands, free speech will be dead in Germany,” he added.

Höcke, the leader of the AfD in Thuringia, is gunning to become Germany’s first far-right state premier when the state holds regional elections in September.

With the court ordering only a fine rather than a jail term, the verdict is not thought to threaten his candidacy at the elections.

‘AfD scandals’

The trial is one of several controversies the AfD is battling ahead of European Parliament elections in June and regional elections in the autumn in Thuringia, Brandenburg and Saxony.

Founded in 2013, the anti-Islam and anti-immigration AfD saw a surge in popularity last year – its 10th anniversary – seizing on concerns over rising migration, high inflation and a stumbling economy.

But its support has wavered since the start of 2024, as it contends with scandals including allegations that senior party members were paid to spread pro-Russian views on a Moscow-financed news website.

Considered an extremist by German intelligence services, Höcke is one of the AfD’s most controversial personalities.

He has called Berlin’s Holocaust monument a “memorial of shame” and urged a “180-degree shift” in the country’s culture of remembrance.

Höcke was convicted of using the banned slogan at an election rally in Merseburg in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in the run-up to Germany’s 2021 federal election.

READ ALSO: How worried should Germany be about the far-right AfD after mass deportation scandal?

He had also been due to stand trial on a second charge of shouting “Everything for…” and inciting the audience to reply “Germany” at an AfD meeting in Thuringia in December.

However, the court decided to separate the proceedings for the second charge, announced earlier this month, because the defence had not had enough time to prepare.

Prosecutor Benedikt Bernzen on Friday underlined the reach of Höcke’s statement, saying that a video of it had been clicked on 21,000 times on the Facebook page of AfD Sachsen-Anhalt alone.

Höcke’s defence lawyer Philip Müller argued the rally was an “insignificant campaign event” and that the offending statement was only brought to the public’s notice by the trial.

Germany’s domestic security agency has labelled the AfD in Thuringia a “confirmed” extremist organisation, along with the party’s regional branches in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

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