Habeck expects coalition budget agreement this week
On Wednesday, no agreement was in sight in the budget dispute. "There are still good and trusting discussions," said Deputy Government Spokesman Wolfgang Büchner in Berlin. "All parties involved are optimistic that we can present a good solution on time," he added.
Habeck sharply criticized Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) to "Politico" for revoking a basic agreement of the coalition leaders on the 2025 budget due to legal concerns.
"Nothing would have leaked if it hadn't been made public, and the deal could have been quietly wrapped up," Habeck said, referring to Lindner's concerns. However, if those responsible publicly commit to something not being possible or necessary, "it often burns flexibility in negotiations." The incident cost trust.
The leaders of the SPD, Greens, and FDP have been holding confidential talks for days to close a five-billion-euro financing gap that still exists, according to the finance department. The revised budget draft is scheduled to be forwarded to the Bundestag and Bundesrat by the end of the week, according to the current timetable.
The first session week of the Bundestag after the summer break begins on September 9. From then on, the budget plan will be debated in parliament. Vice-Government Spokesman Büchner did not say when the deadline for submitting the budget draft expires, but he assumes it will be finished in time.
Finance Minister Lindner did not comment on the budget at a discussion event at Lake Constance in the morning.
There was a proposal from the FDP parliamentary group for a blanket cut in all departments. "A blanket cut of 1.5 percent across all departments is a possible solution that can be discussed," said Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader Christoph Meyer to the "Bild" newspaper on Wednesday.
The FDP still sees potential for savings in the social sector. Despite massive criticism, the liberals insist on their demand for cuts to the citizen's income. The FDP's social expert, Pascal Kober, dismissed objections from the Federal Ministry of Labor, saying that the law would have to be changed if necessary.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr recently called for a reduction of 14 to 20 euros per month. The rates are currently too high, he said, and a higher inflation rate was assumed for the calculation than has actually occurred.
Finance Minister Lindner agreed with his parliamentary group leader. He wants to give citizen's income recipients everything, "but the citizen's income is financed by the taxpayer," Lindner said. The state's social benefit must reflect the socio-economic subsistence minimum to ensure that no one in Germany lives in existential need. However, the principle is that people work for their livelihood. This is a matter of responsibility towards taxpayers.
The FDP has already repeatedly called for cuts to the citizen's income. The SPD and Greens, as well as social associations and trade unions, reject this.
Habeck expressed his disappointment with Federal Finance Minister Lindner's decision to revoke a coalition agreement on the 2025 budget, citing it as a trust-eroding incident in the budget negotiations.
Despite the criticism from Habeck and others, Christian Lindner reiterated the FDP's stance on potential cuts to the citizen's income, arguing that it must reflect the socio-economic subsistence minimum and that people should work for their livelihood.
