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Federal Court of Auditors Act
– 
Gesetz über den Bundesrechnungshof (Bundesrechnungshofgesetz):
This Act establishes the Federal Court of Auditors as a “supreme federal authority” with
independent responsibility for government audit. 

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BUDGET REVIEW: GERMANY
OECD JOURNAL ON BUDGETING – VOLUME 2014/2 © OECD 2015
14
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Stability Council Act
(Act on the Establishment of a Stability Council and on the Avoidance
of Budgetary Emergencies) 
– Stabilitätsratsgesetz (Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Stabilitätsrates und
zur Vermeidung von Haushaltsnotlagen)
: This Act establishes the Stability Council, composed
of the federal and 
Länder
ministers for finance and the federal minister for economics. Its
purpose is to co-ordinate national fiscal policy across levels of government with a view to
avoiding budgetary emergencies, and it provides for surveillance and “rehabilitation”
procedures to address any vulnerability for government entities in this regard.
●
Consolidation Assistance Act
– 
Konsolidierungshilfengesetz
(Gesetz zur Gewährung von
Konsolidierungshilfen):
This Act provides for a fixed amount of financial assistance to five
Länder
, financed from the federation and the 
Länder
, subject to conditionality including
the elimination of the structural deficit in those five 
Länder
by 2020 (i.e. from when the
debt-brake prohibition on non-cyclical borrowing becomes fully applicable to them).
Box 1.
Principles of budgeting in Germany
The constitutional and legal framework of Germany pays particular attention to a
specification of the rules and principles under which budgeting is to be regulated and
conducted. The key principles that can be abstracted from this framework are as follows:
Universality:
Each government entity is required to have a budget that deals
comprehensively and authoritatively with all expenditures and revenues, subject only to
very limited exceptions.
Specificity:
Every budget chapter must be linked to a stated purpose, which prescribes and
limits the uses to which the funds may be applied. Budget notes may specify items further.
Fungibility:
All revenues raised are used to cover all expenditures via a single federal account.
Ear-marking of funds is thus disallowed (other than for pensions and health insurance).