Budget Query: Mützenich Calls for Chancellor's Explanation
Alarm bells are ringing about the delayed budget for next year, a deadline that the SPD, Greens, and FDP can no longer meet. Now, SPD parliamentarians are eager to know the direction of travel.
SPD group leader Rolf Mützenich is putting pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the coalition leadership due to budget negotiations. Although the July 3rd deadline for a completed draft budget can't be met, he's expecting some action, with Mützenich stating before a parliamentary group meeting in the Bundestag that Scholz should "at the very least by next week, along with the Vice-Chancellor and the Finance Minister, provide clear political statements about the shape of this budget."
At first, Scholz, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, and Finance Minister Christian Lindner aimed to finalize their negotiations on the upcoming year's budget before July 3rd so that the cabinet could make a decision. However, this deadline is no longer being held, as officials in the Finance Ministry now say. The reason given is that experts in the Finance Ministry need more time to draw up the official draft after a political agreement. Chancellor Scholz stated over the weekend that he's "absolutely certain we'll kick-start the budget in July."
There are whispers of intense negotiations ahead, perhaps even enough to meet all deadlines for submitting the draft to the Bundestag. A political agreement must then be reached in this or the following week. Officially, it was only stated in the Finance Ministry that the consultations are ongoing, and a political agreement and a cabinet decision are "intended for July."
Previously, the Greens in the Bundestag said that "it's not specifically about a week" yet. Co-Fraktionsvorsitzende Katharina Dröge emphasized that the Federal Cabinet should still decide on the budget draft in July.
Bundesfinance Minister Christian Lindner reiterated that he thinks a fiscal turnaround is essential. "And that requires tough talks," he said at the Industry Day. "I am convinced that it's worth all the effort to reassess this country after a decade of spending and redistribution, so that this country is secure and its finances are permanently sustainable."
