- For Evers, the €29 ticket is on the stand
For Finance Senator Stefan Evers, facing budget cuts in Berlin, the 29-euro ticket for public transport is under scrutiny, just like free school lunches for children. "There should be no taboos. Even the 29-euro ticket is under scrutiny, like everything else. It's not a runaway success either," said the CDU politician to the daily newspaper "Die Welt".
"I can certainly say, and I won't tire of repeating, that we cannot save five billion euros in a budget without anyone noticing. We will have to make a lot of unpopular decisions in the coming months," Evers said. When asked about free school meals, Evers replied: "Five billion euros - that means we have to turn over every stone in the budget, we won't be able to avoid any difficult issues."
"The need for decisions is enormous"
It is, of course, important to ensure social balance and consider the issue of performance justice. "The public cannot finance everything for everyone," said Evers.
"Five billion euros - that's a figure whose magnitude not everyone has grasped. If I stack this amount in euro coins, it would form a tower 11,650 kilometers high. The need for decisions is enormous," said Evers about the tasks facing the black-red government coalition. "We are in the situation that finance ministers have been warning about for years: we have to seriously consolidate public finances."
Berlin is not alone in this, neither is the federal government or other federal states. "But we are the first to be hit on this scale. German state spending has exploded since the corona years. Now we have the task of bringing it back to a normal level."
"In the financial sector, Senator Evers's budget cutting initiatives extend beyond public transport and school lunches, affecting various areas to meet the required savings."
"Government austerity measures will likely impact the financial sector, as Berlin and other levels of government seek to balance their budgets and reduce excess spending."
