Overview
- In October 2025 the Federal Court of Justice admitted revisions in two model proceedings for fundamental importance, paving the way for a precedent on the Bund’s payment obligations.
- About 100 lawsuits target unpaid invoices from the emergency procurement, with a combined dispute value around €2.3 billion and potential taxpayer costs reported to exceed €3 billion.
- The Higher Regional Court of Cologne ruled the ministry’s April 30, 2020 ‘absolute fixed date’ clause invalid and indicated a statutory grace period should have been set before rescission.
- The 2020 open‑house scheme offered €4.50 per FFP2 mask and drew hundreds of suppliers, straining logistics at contractor Fiege and contributing to overbuying later flagged by the Federal Audit Office, which reported roughly three billion masks destroyed.
- In a representative case, entrepreneur Joachim Lutz received a partial win at the Bonn Regional Court for payment, though the decision is not final and key outcomes are expected in 2026; the ministry says it seeks to protect federal fiscal interests.