The controversial frigate project F‑126 is becoming ever more costly for taxpayers. In a Wednesday session, the Bundestag’s budget committees will again have to free up almost €100 million, according to a draft from the finance ministry that the “Handelsblatt” (Wednesday edition) quoted. The funds must be released because, even after the contract with a Dutch shipyard group was withdrawn, invoices have accumulated.
Last week parliamentarians had already unfroze €70 million for the frigate project. Together with other allocations, over €2 billion has now been poured into (or, more precisely, sunk into) the project. Green fiscal spokesman Sebastian Schäfer described the F‑126 as having become a bottomless pit. The CDU also criticises the programme: Union naval reporter Bastian Ernst said the project runs completely out of control and that he finds it difficult to approve further payments until a decision on the future of F‑126 is taken by the end of April.
According to the Greens, there are new weaknesses in the review of defence spending. The Federal Court of Auditors has restructured the team responsible for overseeing the defence budget. Schäfer notes that none of the new auditors have experience in the defence sector, but he is convinced that the new team will still contribute significantly to parliamentary scrutiny, writing this in a letter to Court of Auditors President Kay Scheller.