Ampel representatives question budget agreement

Coalition - Ampel representatives question budget agreement

The agreement between the coalition partners SPD, Greens and FDP in the budget crisis is less than a week old - and representatives of all three sides are already questioning the hard-won compromises. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit tried to calm things down on Monday: He saw little "willingness to change" within the federal government, he said in Berlin. The details were currently still being clarified by the Ministry of Finance. "But the general agreement and the basic thrust remain." Reservations would be examined. "But the government is determined to implement Wednesday's agreement."

Last Wednesday, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner(FDP) agreed on how to plug billions of euros in the federal budget for 2024 and in the climate and transformation fund following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court.

Habeck warned against abandoning the compromise. "If individual struts are now pulled out without putting in new ones, the overall solution will collapse. This means that anyone who wants to make changes in one area must offer a coordinated counter-financing solution that is viable for all sides," he told the German Press Agency. The government could not afford not to give an answer, the budget had to be made.

In fact, the "struts" are already being eagerly tugged at. Dirk Wiese, deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, would like to reopen and renegotiate the budget compromise of the coalition leaders in the Bundestag consultations. This mainly concerns the abrupt end to the e-car purchase subsidy and the tax relief for agricultural diesel. He also emphasized that the Bundestag draws up the budget. "And that's why we will be looking at all the proposals now until the 2024 federal budget is finally agreed at the end of January."

Farmers demonstrate

Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) and the FDP parliamentary group strongly criticized the plans to abolish tax breaks for farmers. On ARD's "Morgenmagazin" Özdemir warned of disadvantages for German farmers in international competition. There are no alternatives for farmers when it comes to agricultural diesel, he said. "We are talking about heavy machinery that cannot simply be converted to electric." Farmers should not be overburdened, said Özdemir. He had made alternative savings proposals to Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). Farmers demonstrated against the plans with tractors in Berlin on Monday.

Up to now, farms have been able to claim a partial refund of the energy tax on diesel. In addition, agricultural and forestry vehicles are exempt from motor vehicle tax.

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr announced a veto against the abolition of tax concessions. "The FDP parliamentary group considers the heavy burden on agricultural businesses to be unacceptable," he told the German Press Agency in Berlin. Finance Minister Lindner expressed his openness to alternatives in the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. In this context, CDU leader Friedrich Merz spoke of tax increases in an email to his supporters and announced that the CDU/CSU would "work very hard to ensure that these tax increases do not happen".

Meanwhile, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil proposed an extension of the commuter allowance. "I am in favor of holding a debate about raising it and ensuring that the working population is relieved," he said in the Bild podcast "Ronzheimer". The budget compromise of the traffic light coalition is clear: "It contains burdens for the working middle class. I'm not happy about that either."

Abrupt end to the e-car purchase subsidy

The commuter allowance is deducted when calculating income tax for the one-way distance between home and work. It amounts to 30 cents per kilometer, 38 cents from the 21st kilometer.

The abrupt end to state subsidies for the purchase of electric cars announced by the Federal Ministry of Economics at the weekend also caused irritation. As of the end of Sunday, no new applications for the environmental bonus could be submitted to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (Bafa), as the Ministry announced on Saturday. Grants that have already been approved are not affected and will be paid. Applications received by Bafa up to and including December 17, 2023 will continue to be processed in the order in which they are received. Anyone who has already bought a car but has not yet applied for a subsidy will be left empty-handed.