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🇩🇪 Germany /Elections & Politics

Hesse Opposition Says State Is Cutting University Renovation Funding

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources New plan
  • Hesse’s opposition says extending the five-year Heureka university construction program to 10 years would halve the effective funding available each year.
  • The state’s universities face a construction and renovation backlog valued by the opposition at at least 2.69 billion euros.
  • The governing parties say economic weakness has affected Heureka but point to simplified procedures and possible stronger construction autonomy for universities.

Hesse’s opposition says the state is stretching university construction money so far that urgently needed renovations will effectively receive less funding. The criticism focuses on the planned extension of the Heureka program from five years to 10.

That amounts to halving the money.

· Miriam DahlkeThe Green Party lawmaker criticized the plan to spread Heureka funding over a longer period.

Green parliamentary secretary Miriam Dahlke said the governing CDU-SPD coalition wanted to spread 1.4 billion euros over the period to 2036, rather than spend the same amount between 2027 and 2031. With construction costs expected to rise, she said the reduction would be even greater in practice.

The Conference of Hessian Universities puts the construction and renovation backlog at the state’s universities at a minimum of 2.69 billion euros. Dahlke accused the state government of taking away not only money but also planning certainty for university construction. She said education was not a priority for the CDU and SPD and argued that cutting universities would weaken the foundation of the state.

The state government is taking away not only the money, but also any planning certainty for university construction.

· Miriam DahlkeDahlke described the expected effect of the funding plan on universities.

SPD science policy spokesman Bijan Kaffenberger pointed to the economic downturn, saying Heureka faced the same challenges as other federal and state funding programs. He said Hesse was responding by simplifying procedures for smaller university building projects.

Heureka faces the same challenges as all other funding programs run by the federal and state governments.

· Bijan KaffenbergerThe SPD lawmaker linked the program’s difficulties to the economic downturn.

The state is also considering giving universities greater autonomy over construction. Kaffenberger said rapid construction should become the standard, adding that the Finance and Science ministries were already discussing the idea.

In my view, rapid construction should become the standard.

· Bijan KaffenbergerKaffenberger proposed faster procedures for university construction.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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