Art. 15 GG in the Social Market Economy - Functions, Applicability and Perspectives
PhD student: André Landwehr, Mag. iur.
Art. 15 GG contains a provision authorizing the transfer of certain economic assets "into common ownership or other forms of common economy". Although the provision is prominently positioned in the fundamental rights section, it has not yet found any practical application in the history of the Federal Republic. This is one of the reasons why the constitutional discussion on the socialization article has so far been on a theoretical level.
However, at the latest since the citizens of Berlin voted in September 2021 with 57.6% of the votes in favour of the socialization of real estate companies ("Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.!"), Article 15 of the German Constitution has been on everyone's lips. Whether the plan will actually be implemented is still uncertain. Moreover, many questions about the project’s constitutional feasibility remain unanswered. Can real estate companies be socialized at all? How much compensation must be paid to the previous owners? And above all: What is actually meant by the meant by the term of public economy?
Some voices even assume that Art. 15 GG is meaningless in today´s world and therefore, can no longer be applied. And indeed, the market economy order is largely undisputed in Germany at first glance, it seems incompatible with reality to apply a norm that has its historical origins in the demands of socialist movements. Against this background, the present-day significance of the socialization article in the economic constitution of the Basic Law is examined.
It is considered which forms of economic activity are permitted by the German constitution - and how Art. 15 GG not only fits into its normative, but also into its actual environment. In addition to the prerequisites and limits of the authorization to socialize, it is also discussed whether - and if so, how - "Deutsche Wohnen & Co." can be socialized.