»Pandemische« Staatshaftung

The German state has ordered and brought about massive restrictions on economic enterprises as part of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it has accompanied these restrictions with area-wide subsidies, the question arises as to the existence of a state obligation to (permanently) compensate the affected enterprises, especially since the subsidies provided often only help the enterprises temporarily and partially. The article examines whether the companies are entitled to such compensation under existing German law or whether the legislature is at least constitutionally obliged, by virtue of the German Grundgesetz, to introduce corresponding compensation claims. The considerations come to the conclusion that state compensation obligations exist only in exceptional cases. State liability in the pandemic is thus not in itself »pandemic«, i. e. affecting the whole nation.