Habeck admits: Budget agreement not optimal
After the difficult negotiations on the 2024 budget, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Habeck wants a fresh start for the traffic light coalition. At the same time, he admits that the solution demands a lot from the country and its citizens.
Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck does not consider the budget agreement of the traffic light government to be ideal. "If you ask me as Economics Minister, I have to say that something else is actually needed economically in this economic phase - namely significantly more investment," said the Green politician in an interview with t-online. "Our country has structural problems, from education to road repairs. We should do more here, that would also help the economy and the business cycle. My concern is that the economy will be difficult next year."
The coalition leaders - Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Habeck - agreed on new cornerstones for the 2024 budget this week. The debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law is to be adhered to for the time being, provided that support for Ukraine does not become significantly more expensive.
The billion-euro gap in the budget following the constitutional court ruling in mid-November was closed with savings and additional burdens for companies and citizens. The negotiations between the traffic light trio lasted around three weeks. Measures such as the increase in the CO2 price and the planned abolition of tax concessions for agricultural diesel have met with protest.
Time for a fresh start
"So we spent a very long time poring over tables, shifting sums back and forth and discussing whether these measures are good, right and reasonable," said Habeck. The negotiations were challenging. "In principle, we have renegotiated parts of the coalition agreement." Even if the past two years had been difficult, primarily due to the war in Ukraine, the next two years would not be any easier.
However, Habeck also drew positive conclusions from the negotiations. "The governing coalition has shown that it can also reach agreements on difficult issues. This would be a good moment for a fresh start."
Habeck also defended the higher increase in the CO2 price for fuel and heating. "There is a social balance. We have abolished the EEG levy, and next year 85 percent of the revenue from the CO2 price will flow directly back to citizens and the economy. This is climate money via the electricity price. There is currently a certain forgetfulness." The previous government had set a CO2 price path. "We reduced it during the energy crisis; now we are returning to exactly that."
"Under the given conditions, we have worked out a viable solution," said Habeck. "This solution demands a lot from the country and its citizens. But it is an overall solution with which we can continue to make important investments possible, maintain significant relief and preserve the social balance.
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Despite the challenging negotiations and the admitted suboptimal budget agreement, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck calls for a fresh start for the traffic light coalition. He emphasizes that the current solution demands a lot from the country and its citizens, but it's a necessary compromise to maintain investments, relief, and social balance. Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Olaf Scholz, along with Finance Minister Christian Lindner, has agreed on the new cornerstones for the 2024 budget.
Source: www.ntv.de
