Household cleaning - Kretschmer accuses federal government of bad style
Saxony's Minister-President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) criticized the federal government during the negotiations on the federal budget 2025 for lacking exchange with the states. "Once again, the federal government has remained faithful to itself – first do and make things without speaking to the very people who are actually responsible, the states, beforehand," Kretschmer said on the sidelines of the Bundesrat session in Berlin. This is a bad style.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had previously announced a political agreement on the budget 2025 after all-night negotiations.
The big throw remains with this agreement, said Kretschmer. "A more fundamental, broader approach was also possible," so Kretschmer. In energy policy, citizens' income, and limiting migration, Germany needed understanding. Growth brakes for the economy would not be lifted with the new budget.
Positively, Kretschmer evaluated that employees, who receive pensions, will in the future receive employer contributions to pension and unemployment insurance directly as wages. "This strengthens the incentives to work even after retirement age," he said.
- Michael Kretschmer, the Minister-President of Saxony and a member of the CDU, expressed his discontent with the Federal Government's approach to the household budget negotiations for 2025, arguing they lacked sufficient collaboration with the states.
- During a session in Berlin, Kretschmer criticized the Federal Government's style of making decisions without previous consultation with the states, likening it to 'do first, ask later.'
- In response to the Federal Government's political agreement on the 2025 household budget, Kretschmer suggested a broader, more comprehensive approach could have been taken, particularly in energy policy, citizens' income, and limiting migration.
- Regarding the new budget, Kretschmer noted that while it may not lift growth brakes for the economy, it does introduce a positive change for retired workers, who will now receive employer contributions to pension and unemployment insurance as part of their wages, thus increasing their incentive to work.
