Klingbeil puts pressure on: 2024 budget by Christmas
The federal government is facing a huge challenge and an enormous test, says SPD leader Klingbeil. Consultations on the 2024 budget are already in full swing. By Christmas, everyone should know what will happen next year.
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil expects tough negotiations within the coalition on the 2024 budget. It will be a difficult balancing act, but citizens and companies need clarity on how to proceed with investments in climate protection and the economic performance of this country, Klingbeil said on ntv's "Frühstart".
Initial solution corridors could already emerge at the coalition meeting this evening in the Chancellery, Klingbeil said. But there is still a lot of work to be done in the government over the next few days. "We have to do this thoroughly." However, the 2024 budget is to be passed by the Bundestag this year: "We want the budget to be passed now in 2023 and then everyone will know by Christmas what it will look like next year."
The Federal Government's original budget plans came to an end with the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court on November 15. The judges in Karlsruhe ruled that 60 billion euros from the Climate and Transformation Fund should not have been reallocated. The money was originally intended for the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis. 16 to 20 billion euros must be saved for the upcoming budget.
Klingbeil rejected the idea of cutting social benefits in order to save on the budget. "Many people are now coming around the corner who have always had a problem with the welfare state anyway and are now trying to use this crisis to launch attacks." The SPD leader wants to continue to enable investment in climate neutrality and in strengthening the welfare state. "We will not allow this to stop, we will not allow it to be canceled. And if we stay within the corridor, then the SPD will certainly find a solution."
The coalition has already decided to suspend the debt brake for the current year, but the FDP refuses to declare an emergency situation for next year in order to increase the scope for debt due to the crisis. Klingbeil believes the last word has not yet been spoken here. "Incidentally, I am not taking the issue of suspending the debt brake off the table." There are currently "an incredible number of challenges". There are therefore "reasons to suspend the debt brake for 2024 as well". Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already made a similar argument in the Bundestag on Tuesday - without explicitly calling for the debt brake to be suspended.
With regard to the FDP's demands, Klingbeil said that they would also talk about prioritization and look at where climate-damaging subsidies in particular could be reduced. "But we will certainly not take an axe to investments or the welfare state." Every minister must now look at where savings can be made in their own department. "It will be a busy few weeks until Christmas."
According to Klingbeil, he does not expect any support from CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who fiercely attacked Scholz in the Bundestag on Tuesday. However, the SPD leader pointed out that there are also other positions within the CDU/CSU. Like the SPD, Berlin's governing mayor Kai Wegner, for example, is campaigning for a reform of the debt brake. "So, this fundamental opposition from Friedrich Merz, who just wants to watch the government trying to find the best way forward and is completely shirking responsibility. Thank God there are also other voices in the CDU/CSU."
In the Bundestag debate, Merz had called the Chancellor a "plumber of power", apparently alluding to the "physicist of power" that Merkel had occasionally been referred to as. "First of all, I think that the plumbing profession is one for which I have great respect," commented Klingbeil. "These are people who are incredibly well trained. They know exactly what they're doing."
Source: www.ntv.de
