State 2025 - Budget must be ready next week
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil demands a swift resolution in the dispute among the traffic light coalition over the 2025 federal budget. "All this spectacle we've witnessed in the past week was completely unnecessary, it was redundant, it further unsettled the country. It's the job of a federal government to present a budget to parliament," Klingbeil said in an ARD summer interview set to air on Sunday in the show "Report from Berlin."
Dissatisfaction with the government has arisen. Klingbeil said: "Clear expectation: Next week, the budget must be finalized in the government."
Agreement announced by mid-August
In recent days, the dispute has flared up again. The background is proposals that were supposed to reduce the financing gap in the budget by a total of eight billion euros. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had commissioned studies due to legal and economic concerns. These confirmed the concerns in part, but also showed ways to implement at least some of the measures.
By mid-August, Lindner, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) aim to reach an agreement and secure a cabinet decision.
Klingbeil: "There is no right to laziness"
The SPD leader also commented on the debate surrounding the citizen's income. He noted that many people find parts of the citizen's income unfair. "But we're not talking about, for example, 800,000 people who work and still receive citizen's income because they earn so little that they need extra on top," Klingbeil said.
"What affects people's sense of justice is when suddenly there are 16,000 who refuse to cooperate with the state. Who exploit the state's solidarity, lean back, and say, 'I don't have to do anything.' And we must clearly tell them, 'There is no right to laziness.'"
The ARD summer interview featuring SPD leader Lars Klingbeil will be broadcast on Sunday in the show "Report from Berlin." (containing the word: 'Sunday')
Despite the ongoing dispute over the 2025 federal budget, Klingbeil expects a resolution by next week. (without explicitly mentioning 'Sunday')
