Debt brake in Bremen: Court negotiates budget crisis

Debt brake in Bremen: Court negotiates budget crisis

In Bremen the signs point to legal dispute. On September 10, 2025, the State Court of Justice heard the state's controversial borrowing for the years 2023 and 2024. The focus is on the question of whether Bremen has complied with the specified rules of the debt brake, which has been in force since 2020. This means that household management must be balanced without new loans. Nevertheless, Bremen has taken out significant loans in recent years, based on an exemption. This caused a stir, especially among the Bremen CDU, which is suing against the state government's budget plans.

The dispute received a particular boost from Bremen's request for an additional 2.7 billion euros in the 2023 budget. Arguments included, among other things, the consequences of the corona crisis, the effects of the Ukraine war and the energy and climate crisis. The Bremen Senate cites an exceptional emergency situation that should justify these measures. The CDU, on the other hand, does not consider the climate crisis to be such an emergency and has questioned the legality of borrowing. According to Article 131a of the Bremen state constitution, new debt is only permitted under certain conditions, and the CDU is of the opinion that these conditions are not met District newspaper reported.

Procedure and possible consequences

The State Court of Justice will announce its judgment on October 23, 2023, which will also question whether the exceptions can apply to foreseeable crises. The court expressed these doubts during the hearing and even found that some resolutions in the March 2023 budget were illegal. One point of criticism was that credit authorization was not permitted over several years, which led to a supplementary budget that Bremen ultimately had to override. In particular, the reasons for climate protection were critically questioned by the court. Judge Sperlich even brought up the idea of ​​a “whatever” rule: the longer a crisis situation lasts, the more well-founded the reasons for further loans must be.

The Bremen CDU also makes another accusation: budget plans must be designed in such a way that budget policy solutions are found in a timely manner and financed from regular resources. This could also be seen from the taz read out. The CDU emphasizes that responsibility for climate protection cannot be shifted to taking on new debt.

Context and comparable cases

The issue of debt brakes and budget law is not just a hot topic for Bremen. A clear example from the recent past is the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in November 2023, which states that billions in spending in the supplementary budget were classified as unconstitutional. The court found that the legislature had not adequately explained to what extent an emergency situation and its countermeasures are adequately related to one another. This reinforces the concerns that the Bremen State Court is currently discussing. In Bremen, too, a similar argument could lead to the invalidity of the budget plans, although the state wants to point out the specific challenges that have arisen from disasters such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The coming weeks are likely to remain exciting as the citizens of Bremen wait for the State Court's decision - and how the city can live up to its responsibility for the future without exceeding the debt brake.