Union inquiry about NGOs: risky gray areas in the law

Frankfurter Rundschau Union inquiry about NGOs: risky gray areas in the law Article by Ursula Rüssmann • 10 hours • 3 minutes reading time Civil society This Bochum allotment association should probably not call for a demonstration against the right. Experts denounce the "wrong tone" in the CDU and CSU's initiative. Instead, they demand the strengthening of those involved and more legal certainty for associations. Not only associations and organizations from Amnesty International to Greenpeace are reacting with horror to the Union's inquiry about the "political neutrality of state-supported organizations." Experts who advise non-profit organizations are also strongly critical and issuing warnings. Mathias Lindemann, a lawyer specializing in non-profit law in Wiesbaden, calls the Union paper with more than 550 questions "strange." He feels "reminded of American conditions," where critics of the storming of the Capitol, for example, are threatened with persecution. Marketing expert Patrick Tapp, President of the German Dialogue Marketing Association (DDV), is also clear: The Union's request is "completely excessive," he tells the FR, because of its scope and also the "false tone" it contains: In fact, "a distinction is made between 'good' organizations that support the poor, the sick and children and supposedly 'bad' ones, although they have quite rightly expressed their opinion to protect democracy in difficult times." The DDV represents, among other things, many companies and non-profit organizations that advertise their products or solicit donations using telephone, letter or online marketing. Both experts assume that many of the questions in the Union's request cannot be answered at all. This is because the tax authorities are bound by tax secrecy. On more than 30 pages, the Union often wants to know the same thing about various NGOs: whether there are indications of campaigns "against certain parties", of the misuse of state funding for party political purposes, of influencing political decisions. Lindemann calls this "tendentious", and says it sends a "political signal". And one that is not suitable for encouraging socio-political engagement. In any case, says the lawyer, there is great uncertainty among non-profit NGOs about how far an association can stand up for democracy and against the right. This has been noticeable since 2019, when first the anti-globalization movement Attac and then other associations were stripped of their non-profit status. For years, organizations such as the "Alliance for Legal Certainty for Political Will-Formation", in which 200 associations work together, have been calling for more legal clarity. The traffic light coalition had also promised this in the coalition agreement: "We want to make it clear by law that a non-profit organization can engage in political activity within its tax-privileged purposes ... without jeopardizing its non-profit status," it said. But this did not happen, mainly because the FDP repeatedly put the brakes on it. On the contrary, the pressure on clubs and organizations has been increasing for years - especially from the extreme right-wing AfD, which in many places attacks groups it dislikes by asking questions in parliaments and filing reports with tax authorities. The think tank "Civil Society in Numbers" described the result in a representative study in 2023. According to this, around 30,000 clubs and organizations in Germany would like to become more politically involved, but do not do so for fear of losing their non-profit status. The German Environmental Aid Association has also been repeatedly pressured by the CDU/CSU because of its many climate lawsuits. A call with pitfalls The tax code (AO) states which club goals are considered non-profit and tax-privileged in this country. For example, monument protection, nature conservation and allotment gardening are listed, as well as the commitment to refugees, those persecuted for racial reasons, women, the promotion of democratic government and civic engagement. An association may only spend its funds on goals that are set out in its statutes. However, the application decree to the tax code, which was amended in 2022, states that there is no objection if associations "occasionally take a position on current political issues outside of their statutory purposes". However, party political engagement is not desired. Lindemann sees a problematic gray area here and gives an example: If a party announces that it will tear down all wind turbines if it wins the election, "then a sports club is probably not allowed to call for a protest demonstration against it, but an environmental association is." He therefore believes that a major reform of non-profit law that creates more clarity is "urgently needed".