Press release
from February 29, 2024
Cultural Department decides independently on funding for the Munich Peace Conference
In a letter dated February 15, 2024, the Department of Culture corrects the previous statement by Head of Cultural Affairs Anton Biebl and Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter that the motion by the SPD/Volt and Grüne/Rosa Liste city council factions not to support the Munich International Peace Conference “provides the Department of Culture with a framework for [setze]which must be taken into account in the interpretation of the funding criteria.” The organizers of the Peace Conference are therefore calling on the Department of Culture to make a new decision on the funding of the Peace Conference, free from the influence of the city councillors concerned.
In fact, the cultural department usually decides independently on so-called “ongoing matters” under EUR 25,000. Decisions on funding applications are based on the funding guidelines, which guide the discretion of the Cultural Department and are determined by the City Council. The administration is bound by the principle of equal treatment in all decisions.
Instead of adapting the funding guidelines as a whole, which would undoubtedly fall within the remit of the city council, the city council motion in question aimed to set new standards for the peace conference only. The application was therefore an attempt to intervene in the area of competence of the cultural department in a way that does not comply with the principle of equal treatment.
The fact that the head of cultural affairs, Anton Biebl, and Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter have “created a framework” by merely submitting a motion that has not yet been passed by the city council is a sign of [zur] interpretation of the funding criteria”, there was a risk that, firstly, the politically motivated[1] unequal treatment of the Peace Conference would be enforced with an administrative act, and secondly, the funding criteria of the Cultural Department, or rather their interpretation, would be changed through an irregular and undemocratic process.
At least the latter risk was mitigated by the corrective communication from the Department of Culture that the city council application did not set a binding framework for the interpretation of the funding criteria. Nevertheless, the Department of Culture has not withdrawn its decision not to support the Peace Conference due to the City Council’s application. We urge the Department of Culture to grant the Peace Conference the funding it has verbally promised.
The letter from the Department of Culture dated 06.02.2024 can be found HERE
You can find the reply from RA Breuer dated 13.02.2024 HERE
The letter from the Department of Culture dated 15.02.2024 can be found HERE
You can find the reply from RA Breuer dated 29.02.2024 HERE
Contact:
Maria R. Feckl
Project Management International Munich Peace Conference
Mobile 0160 97 50 20 28
E-mail: office@friedenskonferenz.info
International Munich Peace Conference
Helmut-Michael-Vogel Bildungswerk e.V.
Frauenlobstr. 24 Rgb.
80337 Munich
Organizations of the sponsoring group:
German Peace Society – United Opponents of Military Service Bavaria (DFG-VK Bayern)
pax christi Diocese of Munich and Freising e.V.
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War / Physicians in Social Responsibility (IPPNW)
MSKchange e.V.
Peace Tax Network
NatWiss Responsibility for Peace and Sustainability e.V.
IFFF International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom
Helmut-Michael-Vogel-Bildungswerk e.V.
More information at www.friedenskonferenz.info
[1] City council faction Greens/Rosa Liste: “However, we do not want to conceal the fact that the political will is currently lacking.” See: https://www.gruene-fraktion-muenchen.de/in-eigener-sache-warum-wir-die-muenchner-friedenskonferenz-nicht-mehr-foerdern-wollen/.
Leave A Comment