Sekundärer Finanzausgleich in Deutschland und der Schweiz

Since its coming into force in 2008, the NFA reform in Switzerland has established a new financial equalisation scheme with, for the first time, direct redistributive transfers between cantons. This reform has remained widely unnoticed in Germany. Firstly, the author compares the financial constitutional framework and describes the current German system and the one taking effect in 2020. Secondly, he analyses the Swiss financial equalisation in the stricter sense, focusing on an extensive presentation of the resource equalisation as well as the geographical-topographic and the sociodemographic cost compensation. Thirdly, he points out options for a reform in Germany sorted by the system’s main challenges. The author specifically advocates an indicator-based cost compensation in Germany similar to the Swiss model in order to better meet the constitutional requirement to name and justify the consideration of special costs.