Budget freeze to have little impact

The budget freeze imposed by the Saxon Ministry of Finance should have as little impact as possible on science and research. The consequences cannot yet be quantified in concrete terms, said ministry spokesperson Falk Lange on Monday when asked. "However, there are also large areas that are not affected by the guidelines. For example, university funding has recently been secured through the signing of the grant agreement."

In addition, ongoing projects that are co-financed by the state via European funding and federal funds are not at risk. "There will also be no impact on projects involving science that are already being implemented or planned as part of structural change."

As a consequence of the May tax estimate, the Ministry of Finance announced so-called management measures on June 11. This year, the Free State must expect tax revenue to fall by 385 million euros compared to budget planning, it said. By the end of the year, the ministries are to demonstrate savings totaling 265.1 million euros. How they implement this is up to them. There are no further restrictive guidelines from the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Science and the Arts is to achieve savings of 30 million euros. However, this does not only affect science and research, but also the areas of culture and tourism.