Dobrindt does not expect budget decision by February

Coalition - Dobrindt does not expect budget decision by February

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt does not expect the Bundestag to be able to pass a regular budget for 2024 by the beginning of February as planned by the traffic light government.

"The timetable is completely unrealistic. The traffic light government is once again completely at odds with itself," the chairman of the CSU MPs in the Bundestag told the German Press Agency in Berlin. Dobrindt added: "The tricksters, deceivers and sleight-of-hand players in the traffic light want to deceive each other. And that is why a 2024 budget in February next year will not work."

Sharp criticism of Lindner

According to the federal government's plans, the Bundestag 's Budget Committee will vote on the changes and planned cuts in the federal government's draft budget in mid-January. A budget week and the final budget resolution in the Bundestag are planned for the end of January. The budget could then pass the Bundesrat at the beginning of February.

Dobrindt sharply criticized Federal Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner. "I am disappointed that the FDP is not the corrective to left-green ideology." Instead, the FDP - previously the CDU/CSU's favorite government partner - is "also becoming an amplifier of these nonsense projects with tax and burden increases". The Finance Minister "is acting as a financial conspirator by talking about wanting to change the fluctuation margin of the debt brake", said Dobrindt. "That's nothing more than grinding down the debt brake in order to create more debt."

Dobrindt said that if the traffic light coalition does decide on a budget emergency for 2024 for Ukraine aid and relaxes the debt brake, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group will take a close look at the justification. "If there is any indication that this decision is unconstitutional, we will of course take legal action against it." He said: "Once again, we have to assume that the public is being led around by the nose here."

Special fund and support for Ukraine

Dobrindt also expressed his rejection of possible special funds anchored in the Basic Law. "Some are calling for special debt for Ukraine, others for special debt for the climate, others for special debt for investments."

He emphasized: "With us, there will be no decisions that have the sole purpose of leaving the nonsensical financing of the traffic lights untouched." Anyone who wants to make decisions on the 2024 budget with the CDU/CSU "must first stop left-green ideological projects such as the Heating Act. This costs the federal government and taxpayers billions and brings hardly any ecological benefits".

With regard to support for Ukraine, Dobrindt said that Kiev needed weapons most urgently. "To this day, the traffic light government is blocking the delivery of long-range Taurus cruise missiles." The first thing to do is to make a "clear commitment to really want to support Ukraine more strongly".

After that, decisions would have to be made as to whether additional funding was necessary. "I am convinced that a federal budget with a volume of almost 500 billion euros next year still offers sufficient opportunities to organize more funding for Ukraine if nonsensical projects are dispensed with," said Dobrindt.

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1. Despite criticisms from CSU's Alexander Dobrindt, the traffic light government aims to vote on budget changes and proposed cuts in mid-January.
2. Dobrindt expressed disappointment with Federal Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner, accusing him of amplifying left-green ideology and seeking to weaken the debt brake.
3. The CSU parliamentary group leader warned that if the traffic light coalition decides to relax the debt brake for Ukraine aid, they would closely scrutinize the justification for any potential legal action.
4. Dobrindt also rejected the idea of special funds anchored in the German constitution, emphasizing that the CDU/CSU would not support financing decisions that do not address nonsensical traffic light projects.
5. With regard to aid for Ukraine, Dobrindt criticized the traffic light government for blocking the delivery of long-range Taurus cruise missiles, while calling for a stronger commitment to supporting Ukraine and assessing additional funding needs.
6. The traffic light coalition's plans to pass the 2024 regular budget by the beginning of February were criticized as unrealistic by Dobrindt, who claimed that the traffic light government was once again at odds with itself.
7. According to Dobrindt, if nonsensical projects are abandoned, the federal budget with a volume of almost 500 billion euros may still provide sufficient opportunities to allocate additional funds for Ukraine.
8. The CSU regional group leader, Dobrindt, is a member of the Bundestag, representing the Conservative Union (CSU) party in the German federal parliament.
9. The formation of the current German government, called the Traffic Light Coalition, includes the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP).

Source: www.stern.de