Finanzhilfen des Bundes

Subsidization policy is intensively discussed in Germany. Subsidies comprise by definition tax expenditures and those government expenditures which distort the structure of the economy; financial aid is granted to different branches by the EU, the federal government, the states (Länder) and the local authorities. The extent and the structure of the federal government’s subsidies in the period 1998 to 2003 are analyzed. The results are compared to the data in the official report of the federal government released in October 2003 and to the data on which a reform proposal of the Prime Ministers of the states Hessia and North Rhine-Westphalia is based on.