"Better is not yet good", says Kay Scheller, President of the German SAI, on the planned reform of the parliamentary groups’ public relations when presenting the current special report. "The amendment to the law comes with constitutional risks. Moreover, the Federal Government still lacks effective sanctioning options in the case of violations."
Public relations work of parliamentary groups: risky reform
Geplante Reform der Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Fraktionen (Gesetzentwurf vom 25. Juni 2024 zur Änderung der §§ 55 und 58 Abgeordnetengesetz)
In March 2024, we had already pointed out the urgent need for reform of the legal framework governing the use of social media by parliamentary groups. The amendment to the law that has now been submitted to Parliament aims to eliminate existing regulatory deficits, but at the same time creates new risks.
The expansion of public relations work fundamentally changes the character of parliamentary groups: in future, such groups are also to actively communicate general political views and thus promote their policies to citizens. This means that their public relations work will inevitably be mixed with tasks that were previously reserved for the parties. This comes with constitutional risks. For example, federal funds may be used for party advertising which would violate constitutional rules.
Recovery and sanction mechanism still ineffective
Like the previous regulation, the draft law does not provide for an effective recovery and sanction mechanism in the event of a misuse of funds. It is true that misused funds are to be recovered. However, this is not sufficient to prevent false incentives. For example, there is still no obligation to delete social media content that exceeds the remit of the groups.
Even the involvement of the Parliament's Council of Elders leaves many questions unanswered and does thus not ensure that effective sanctions are imposed. The responsibility for effective sanctioning and recovery should lie with the Parliament’s administration, which, however, will not have a sufficient legal basis for this task even after the planned amendment.
Stricter rules prior to federal elections
However, we welcome the implementation of our recommendation: six weeks prior to a federal election, stricter rules should apply to the public relations work of parliamentary groups. Public relations work will then only be permitted on special parliamentary occasions in order to ensure a clear separation from party tasks.
For more information on our audit findings and audit recommendations please see our special report to the two houses of the German Parliament and the Federal Government. (Please note: The report is only available in German.)
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Please note: the report is only available in German.
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Geplante Reform der Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Fraktionen (Gesetzentwurf vom 25. Juni 2024 zur Änderung der §§ 55 und 58 Abgeordnetengesetz) PDF, 327 KB Download