Expected costs of flood aid trigger new debate on debt brake

Expected costs of flood aid trigger new debate on debt brake

SPD politicians initiated the debate about a renewed suspension of the debt brake on Wednesday. "The full extent of the flood damage is not yet foreseeable, but we have the option of suspending the debt brake in the Basic Law for precisely such cases," Rohde told Stern magazine. The budget ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in mid-November did nothing to change this.

The floods are causing immense damage, his party colleague Andreas Schwarz(SPD), member of the Bundestag Budget Committee, told "Der Spiegel". Schwarz assumes that the federal government will help those affected. The Chancellor has already signaled this. "We could suspend the debt brake for these costs," said Schwarz.

In Lower Saxony in particular, but also in other federal states, the emergency services have been battling the masses of water for days. "One thing is certain, we will not leave the people in the flood areas to deal with the costs alone," said Andreas Audretsch, deputy parliamentary group leader of the Greens, to the news portal "t-online". "In order to provide the necessary funds, the suspension of the debt brake in 2024 is of course also an option."

The damage cannot yet be definitively quantified, said Audretsch. But: "The situation in the flood areas is dramatic for many people."

Coalition partner FDP believes the debate is currently out of place. "The people in Lower Saxony, who are having to bail water out of their cellars these days, have other worries than the debt brake," parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told the newspapers of the Bavarian media group Mediengruppe Bayern.

The financial burden that the floods will place on the federal and state governments is not yet foreseeable, said FDP budget minister Meyer on t-online. "Any rash call for the debt brake to be suspended is dubious." A severe weather event or a natural disaster did not per se fulfill the conditions of the Basic Law for suspending the debt brake.

The Basic Law sets strict limits for the suspension of the debt brake. According to the Basic Law, a suspension is permissible "in the event of natural disasters or exceptional emergencies beyond the control of the state".

Following the Constitutional Court ruling, the traffic light government had to draw up a new budget for 2024 at the end of last year. The SPD and Greens were open to suspending the debt brake in principle, but the FDP was not. At the insistence of the Liberals, the coalition partners finally agreed to adhere to the debt brake.

In December, the Bundestag retroactively declared an emergency situation for 2023, partly due to the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate in the summer of 2021, thus suspending the debt brake.

There are no plans to repeat this in view of the current flood situation, said government spokesperson Hebestreit. However, the federal government reserves the right to take such a step depending on further developments. If "a damaging event of national proportions with high damage amounts" were to be dealt with, "the federal government would not shirk its responsibility", added Hebestreit. There are "existing mechanisms" for this.

The chief budget officer of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Christian Haase (CDU), accused the SPD of politically exploiting the current flood situation with its latest demand. "For the SPD, the floods are a welcome opportunity to continue their insistent demand to suspend the debt brake," Haase told the AFP news agency. "Before such a demand is made, a precise damage analysis should first be carried out and the extent of the damage should be known."

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1. The SPD advocates for suspending the debt brake again due to the increasing costs of flood aid.
2. Rohde, an SPD politician, believes the debt brake can be temporarily suspended for such extreme situations.
3. Schwarz (SPD) assumes the federal government will provide aid to those affected by the floods.
4. Audretsch (Greens) supports suspension of the debt brake in 2024 to help funding for flood aid.
5. The flood zones in Lower Saxony and other states are still dealing with the water masses.
6. Hebestreit, a government spokesperson, stated the federal government will not leave flood victims to bear the costs alone.
7. Meyer, the FDP budget minister, expressed doubts about suspending the debt brake due to the current flood situation.
8. The FDP considers discarding the debate about the debt brake suspension at this time.
9. According to the Basic Law, debt brake suspension can happen in the event of natural disasters.
10. Following the Federal Constitutional Court ruling, the German government had to adjust the 2024 budget.
11. The Bundestag declared an emergency situation in 2023 due to previous flood damage, allowing them to suspend the debt brake.
12. The FDP, a coalition partner, was not in favor of suspending the debt brake during the budget agreement in 2023.
13. T-Online reported that the financial burden of the floods is yet to be definitively calculated.
14. Andreas Audretsch (Greens) believes the current flood situation is causing great distress in the affected areas.

Source: www.stern.de