Intervention Categories: Finance policy and financial aid; Stimulus packages and financial support
Level of Jurisdiction: National
Overview: The German Government allowed debtors who are unable to fulfil their contractual obligations because of the COVID 19 pandemic to refuse or discontinue those obligations for the time being, without any legal consequences for them.
This right of refusal applies to consumers and micro-enterprises which, because of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, are currently unable to satisfy claims relating to contracts with ongoing obligations that were signed before 8 March 2020.
The right of refusal lasts until 30 June 2020. This ensures that consumers and micro-enterprises are not cut off from basic services (electricity, gas, telecommunications, and, where regulated by civil law, also water) because they cannot meet their payment obligations due to the crisis.
Full details here: https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Gesetzgebungsverfahren/Dokumente/Corona-Pandemie.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3