Berlin's head of government calls for reform of the debt brake
In view of the current problems in the federal budget, Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner is calling for a reform of the debt brake. "The #debt brake is a good idea in terms of sound finances. However, I consider its current design to be dangerous," explained the CDU politician on Thursday on the X platform (formerly Twitter) and in an interview with the magazine "Stern". "Because, as I have been saying for some time, it is to be feared that the debt brake will increasingly become a brake on the future."
Wegner emphasized that he does not want to abolish the debt brake, which prohibits the federal and state governments from taking on new liabilities in their budgets apart from certain exceptions. "I understand the concern about far too much debt," his post reads. "That's why I don't want to remove the debt brake from the constitution, I want to make it future-proof. There can only be loans for investments - loans for consumer spending are taboo."
Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the reallocation of 60 billion euros in the 2021 federal budget null and void. The money had been approved as a coronavirus loan, but was subsequently to be used for climate protection and modernizing the economy. At the same time, the judges ruled that the state may not reserve emergency loans for later years. As a result, further billions for future projects are at risk. As a result of the ruling, the 2024 federal budget is on hold for the time being.
Following the ruling, there have been calls from the SPD, the Greens, the Left, the trade unions and economists to either abolish, suspend or reform the debt brake. The CDU/CSU has positioned itself against this. "At the moment, I don't see that we need to tackle the debt brake," said CDU party leader Friedrich Merz recently on the ARD talk show "Maischberger".
Wegner, who is also CDU state chairman in Berlin, sees things differently. "The ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court makes it clear how investment-inhibiting the current debt brake is," he told Stern magazine and spoke of "mega needs" in areas such as climate protection, transport routes, schools, social infrastructure and the restructuring of the energy supply. "Without investment, not only will our roads, railways and schools crumble, without investment, the future of our country will crumble."
In light of the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on the 2021 federal budget, Wegner argued that the debt brake, which is essential for sound household finances, needs reform to avoid becoming a barrier to future investments. Despite concerns about debt, Wegner advocates for maintaining the debt brake but making it more flexible, allowing loans only for investments and not for consumer spending.
Source: www.dpa.com
