Top German court nixes subsidy raise for political parties

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s top court has ruled that a decision five years ago to raise the upper limit for state financing of political parties by 25 million euros ($27.2 million) a year was illegal. The country’s Constitutional Court said Tuesday that a 2018 law change backed by the left-right governing coalition under former Chancellor Angela Merkel to increase the annual limit for all parties to 190 million euros ($206.7 million) could make them too dependent on the state. State funding in Germany matches the amount of money political parties receive from members or donations up to a fixed limit. The Greens, Left and Free Democrats parties had challenged the law. It wasn’t immediately clear what impact the verdict will have for state funding already provided to parties.