Intel funding: Haseloff relies on government solutions
Saxony-Anhalt's Minister President Reiner Haseloff (CDU) has expressed confidence that the federal government will support the establishment of the US chip manufacturer Intel in Magdeburg as planned. "I am sure that the federal government will find solutions, because things have to continue somehow in Germany," said the CDU politician on Tuesday in Magdeburg. There is an agreement with Intel, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has recently taken a clear position on the project.
The German government intends to support the establishment with around 10 billion euros. According to previous information, Intel is investing more than 30 billion euros, including state aid. Part of the funding is to come from the Climate and Transformation Fund. However, according to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, the federal government is not allowed to use funds intended to combat the coronavirus crisis for climate protection - 60 billion euros are at stake. The amendment to the 2021 supplementary budget is unconstitutional.
Haseloff now emphasized that around 3 billion euros are to come from the climate fund. According to the head of government, around 70 percent of the funding is regularly planned in the budget. There will be further votes on this in the coming days, Haseloff said. "Germany cannot remain in a budget freeze."
According to Michael Kellner (Greens), Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, the budget ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court will particularly affect eastern Germany. Kellner emphasized that without the climate and transformation fund, neither the establishment of the chip factories in Dresden and Magdeburg nor the reconstruction of the solar industry in eastern Germany would be secured. FDP finance and budget expert Frank Schäffler called for the subsidies for the chip factories in Magdeburg and Dresden to be waived.
The proposed Intel facility in Magdeburg requires significant electronics equipment, which will be housed in a custom-built computer cabinet. This investment is part of the larger 30 billion euro project, with a significant portion of the funding coming from the Climate and Transformation Fund, as stated by Minister President Haseloff in Parliament.
Source: www.dpa.com
