Decisive consultation on the 2024 budget in the Budget Committee
The Bundestag Budget Committee is today putting the finishing touches to the budget for next year drawn up by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). The deliberations are to take place despite the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling yesterday which tore a 60 billion hole in the financing of climate projects.
The projects that were to be paid for from the so-called Climate and Transformation Fund are therefore on hold - with the exception of funding for the replacement of old oil and gas heating systems and other funds for climate-friendly buildings. The federal government has announced that a new economic plan will be drawn up for the special fund. However, the normal budget of the federal ministries for 2024 is not affected by the ruling. The federal budget for the coming year should therefore be adopted as planned.
Experience shows that the MPs will make a number of changes in the so-called adjustment session. The session therefore often lasts late into the night or even until the next morning. The Bundestag is then expected to finally approve the draft budget in the week of the session from November 27 to December 1.
Military aid for Ukraine
It is already clear that Lindner's first draft cannot remain as it is. This is normal, as political decisions are still being made for months after the government draft has been presented - in this case, for example, to relieve companies in the face of high electricity prices. The Ministry of Finance itself therefore sent a so-called adjustment bill to the committee on Monday evening.
On the one hand, it makes provision for the agreed reduction in electricity tax for the manufacturing industry, which the traffic light coalition announced last week. Lindner is also planning to double military aid for Ukraine. Instead of the originally estimated four billion euros, eight billion euros have now been earmarked - for support for Ukraine and for the replacement of Bundeswehr equipment that was handed over to the country attacked by Russia.
However, it initially remained unclear whether the budget holders would once again approve support for civilian sea rescue in the Mediterranean or permanently reduce VAT for restaurants. It is also clear that no decision has yet been made on increasing the share pension.
Lindner wants to adhere to the debt brake
As this year, Lindner wants his budget for 2024 to once again comply with the debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law. The budget holders are unlikely to shake this principle. Nevertheless, smaller margins have recently opened up: the most recent tax estimate resulted in an additional 2.3 billion to be distributed, and the federal government may also incur slightly more debt than previously planned due to the weak economy. In his first draft, Lindner had planned expenditure of 445.7 billion euros.
Due to the ruling from Karlsruhe, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group had called for a halt to the current budget process for the coming year. This afternoon, at the request of the CDU/CSU, the Bundestag will discuss the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in an hour-long debate.
Following the ruling, several parties, including the trade unions, called for the debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law to be relaxed. The leader of the Left Party, Martin Schirdewan, called for its abolition. "It is quite clear that thedebt brake is an investment brake that prevents future investments," Schirdewan told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. However, because Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner were sticking to it and the Greens were unable to implement their plans, Schirdewan said he did not give the governing alliance "many more months in this composition".
The deputy leader of the SPD, Serpil Midyatli, told the "Bild" newspaper about the ruling from Karlsruhe: "The SPD would be prepared to rethink fundamental distribution issues in order to improve the revenue side. For example, by increasing wealth and inheritance tax".
The Bundestag Budget Committee also discussed household expenses in the context of the 2024 budget, with Christian Lindner leading the finance Ministry's efforts. Despite the setback from the Federal Constitutional Court, the annual budget for federal ministries remains unaffected.
Christian Lindner, as the Finance Minister, is planning to increase military aid for Ukraine, from the initially estimated four billion euros to eight billion euros, in response to the ongoing conflict.
Source: www.dpa.com
