Federal budget - Dreyer: Reconstruction aid after flood disaster remains safe
According to Rhineland-Palatinate's Minister President Malu Dreyer (SPD), the reconstruction aid for the flood areas in Rhineland-Palatinate remains secure. "The agreements that we reached between the federal and state governments in 2021 following the flood disaster and which were enshrined in law in September 2021 with the law on the establishment of a special fund "Reconstruction Aid 2021" are secure," said the SPD politician in Mainz on Friday, according to a statement.
The German Bundestag had previously also voted on the necessary adjustments for the 2021 reconstruction aid with the supplementary budget 2023 and the resolution to declare an emergency. "The implementation in the budget had to be adjusted following the ruling and this was done today," explained Dreyer. And she emphasized: "At no time was there any question of whether further aid would be provided!" She said she was pleased that the federal government and the Bundestag had acted quickly on this point and had also signaled security to the outside world.
"I also want to say explicitly that the ruling has not and will not lead to any restrictions on reconstruction aid in 2021," said Dreyer. "Application procedures and approvals and disbursements have continued as usual and will continue to do so, "even if the adjustments to the 2024 federal budget are still pending".
In his response to her letter, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (also SPD) had made it very clear that the provision of funds was assured, Dreyer emphasized. "The federal government will also fully meet its obligations in the coming years, which it has assumed as part of the agreements on the special fund for reconstruction aid 2021."
However, Dreyer regretted that the CDU and CSU members of the Bundestag did not vote in favor of the Bundestag resolution. For those affected by the flood, she said, this was a negative signal. "The people in the Ahr Valley were concerned early on that the challenges of reconstruction could be forgotten if the initial attention waned," Dreyer recalled. "Broad approval would also have been an important sign of unity and continued solidarity to make it clear that the 2021 reconstruction aid is no ordinary budget item."
The agreement on reconstruction aid 2021 was not reached by a federal government, "but is based on a broad cross-party and cross-party consensus", Dreyer emphasized. "This must remain the case." For 2024, the federal government has already announced that it will make corresponding funds of 2.7 billion euros available in the budget.
SPD General Secretary Marc Ruland criticized the CDU's voting behaviour: "I am stunned that Friedrich Merz is now playing his political games on the backs of the people in the Ahr valley." By voting against the emergency resolution, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group was once again demonstrating: "It is not interested in constructive opposition work, but is instead pursuing fundamental opposition with the greatest possible ruckus".
The fact that the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU MPs followed this line does not make it any better. Ruland called on the CDU state chairman Christian Baldauf and the CDU parliamentary group chairman Gordon Schnieder to "urgently speak to their party leadership in Berlin in order to avoid such voting behavior in the future".
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- The flood-affected areas in Rhineland-Palatinate will continue to receive reconstruction aid, assured by Malu Dreyer, the state's Minister President.
- Following the flood disaster of 2021, the federal and state governments agreed on reconstruction aid, which was made law in September 2021.
- Dreyer acknowledged that the German Bundestag had approved necessary adjustments for the 2021 reconstruction aid in the supplementary budget 2023 and the emergency resolution.
- The 'Reconstruction Aid 2021' special fund established by law, is backed by both the federal government and the Bundestag, according to Dreyer.
- In response to Dreyer's letter, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, also a member of the SPD, assured provision of funds for the special reconstruction aid 2021.
- The CDU, the opposition party, did not support the Bundestag resolution on emergency aid, criticizing SPD General Secretary Marc Ruland as sending a negative signal to the affected people in the Ahr Valley.
- Despite this, the federal government has declared its commitment to fulfilling its obligations, ensuring the necessary funding for the 2021 reconstruction aid as per agreements.
- Malu Dreyer lamented the opposition's stance, emphasizing that the cross-party agreement on the reconstruction aid 2021 must remain a priority, to advocate for continuous solidarity, unity, and reconstruction support in Rhineland-Palatinate and Ahr Valley, particularly.
Source: www.stern.de
