Budget verdict: Save on migration and citizens' income
Following the Karlsruhe budget ruling, Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger has rejected cuts to economic projects and called for cuts to citizens' benefits and migration. "My proposal is to make massive cuts in the social sector, but not at the expense of pensioners," said the Free Voter politician on Monday evening on ZDF's "Heute Journal". The energy and economics ministers of the federal states and Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) met in Berlin on Monday to discuss the consequences of the budget ruling. Aiwanger is Chairman of the Conference of Economics Ministers of the federal states.
Aiwanger said that in order to prevent further borrowing, billions had to be saved on illegal migration and on citizens' benefits for people able to work. When asked about the fact that savings in these areas could not make up for the 60 billion missing from the budget, he said: "Perhaps not in full, but it would be a significant contribution. In any case, there are a few billion lying on the street." On the other hand, he does not want to save on pensions. "These are the people who built Germany."
The Federal Constitutional Court had declared a reallocation of 60 billion euros in the 2021 budget to be unconstitutional. The federal government is therefore not allowed to use funds intended to combat the coronavirus crisis for climate protection. This could have a major impact on the Climate and Transformation Fund.
The fund is to be used, for example, to finance programs for more climate protection, for the establishment of future technologies and the development towards a climate-neutral economy.
Aiwanger maintains that significant savings can be made in the budget by reducing expenditures on illegal migration and citizens' benefits for able-bodied individuals, as proposed by the Federal Government. Despite the 60 billion euros deemed unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court, the Federal Government is barred from using coronavirus crisis funds for climate protection, impacting the Climate and Transformation Fund's initiatives.
Source: www.dpa.com
