Habeck will not fly to the climate conference in Dubai

In Berlin, negotiations on the budget for 2024 appear to be entering the decisive phase. The coalition must reach an agreement within the next few days. At the request of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Economics Minister Robert Habeck will therefore not be flying to Dubai tomorrow evening for the World Climate Conference.

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has canceled a trip to the World Climate Conference in Dubai and the region planned for Monday evening due to the budget crisis. Habeck's presence in Berlin was necessary in order to make further progress in the talks on the 2024 budget following the ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economics in Berlin announced. This was done in consultation with and at the request of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The trip will be postponed to the next possible date.

The coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP is under great pressure to make decisions in the budget crisis. The federal government's schedule recently included the participation of Economics and Climate Protection Minister Habeck at the World Climate Conference in Dubai on Tuesday. Negotiations on the budget are currently taking place primarily in a three-way round with Scholz, Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

The coalition must reach an agreement within the next few days if it wants to adopt the budget for 2024 this year. A political agreement in principle must be reached by the cabinet meeting on Wednesday so that there is still enough time for the parliamentary process. The Federal Constitutional Court had declared the reallocation of 60 billion euros in the 2021 budget to the Climate and Transformation Fund null and void. The money had been approved as a coronavirus loan, but was subsequently to be used for climate protection and the modernization of the economy.

At the same time, the judges ruled that the state was not allowed to set aside emergency loans for later years. However, the federal government has done this in special pots - which is now tearing additional holes in the budget. Lindner sees a "need for action" of 17 billion euros for 2024. Possible savings, especially in social spending, are controversial - and whether the debt brake should be suspended again next year due to an emergency situation and with reference to the burdens caused by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.