Lindner insists on compliance with the 2024 debt brake - CDU/CSU calls for savings
In order to implement "future investments and important coalition projects", "other outdated expenditure that is no longer necessary today will be reprioritized", said Lindner with a view to 2024 and the consequences of the Federal Constitutional Court's budget ruling. This also made the supplementary budget for 2023 necessary because debts from special funds such as the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) now have to be written into the regular budget. The Bundestag will vote on the supplementary budget and the renewed suspension of the debt brake on December 14.
The actions of the coalition with the traffic light system have been heavily criticized by the opposition. AfD budget politician Peter Boehringer spoke of an "unconstitutional" draft budget for 2023. The retroactive declaration of an emergency situation planned by Lindner to suspend the debt brake was "a brazen trick" and the traffic light coalition lacked the will to save.
The CDU/CSU called on the "traffic light" to make savings in social benefits. "Take a look at the citizen's income," said CDU housekeeper Mathias Middelberg. There are four million citizens' income recipients who are capable of working. "Get a few of them into work and we would see a significant reduction in the budget."
The budget crisis following the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court was not triggered by the Union's lawsuit, but by the "breach of the constitution" by the traffic light coalition. This coalition had posted the budget incorrectly and "shifted funds from the core budget to shadow budgets".
The court had objected to the way in which debts were booked, said SPD budget officer Dennis Rhode in the Bundestag. The ruling may have "thrown a few things into disarray, but it has not knocked us down". He emphasized that many federal states were also affected, including those led by the CDU.
"Why have we given ourselves such a tight corset in the constitution?" asked Green Party budget minister Sven-Christian Kindler in parliament. The debt brake needs to be extended and reformed to enable investment. Among other things, this would involve money for schools, daycare centers and sustainable jobs.
Similar demands are coming from the Left Party. Member of parliament Gesine Lötzsch called the debt brake "nonsensical" and its inclusion in the Basic Law an "act of self-restraint". She called for it to be suspended again for 2024 and also for it to be removed from the Basic Law in the long term.
The coalition government is already lacking 60 billion euros from the KTF alone for energy transition projects. For the 2023 budget, it is particularly important that the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), which is financed in a similar way to the KTF, will also be wound up as a result of the Karlsruhe ruling.
According to Lindner, 17 billion euros are now missing from the budget. In addition, according to SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, 13 billion euros have been earmarked for projects that should actually be financed via the KTF climate fund. The SPD and Greens are therefore calling for the debt brake to also be suspended in 2024.
It is questionable whether the 2024 budget can be adopted before the end of the year due to the dispute within the coalition. He believes it is "more realistic that it will take a little longer", Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) told Wirtschaftswoche. He was "very skeptical" that an emergency situation for the suspension of the debt brake could be justified "with legal certainty" again in 2024.
SPD Parliamentary Secretary Katja Mast spoke out in the "Tagesspiegel" in favor of declaring a "selective" emergency in 2024 to suspend the debt brake for expenditure in connection with the war in Ukraine. Whether this should include not only military, humanitarian and financial aid to Kiev, but also spending on citizens' allowances for Ukrainian war refugees, remained open.
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- Christian Lindner insists on compliance with the 2024 debt brake, as stated by the CDU/CSU, who call for savings.
- The traffic light coalition's actions have faced heavy criticism from the opposition, with AfD budget politician Peter Boehringer labeling the draft budget for 2023 as "unconstitutional."
- Lindner's plan to retroactively declare an emergency situation to suspend the debt brake was called a "brazen trick" by Boehringer.
- The CDU/CSU urged the traffic light coalition to make savings in social benefits, specifically suggesting a review of the citizen's income.
- The Union did not trigger the budget crisis following the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling, but rather the traffic light coalition's breach of the constitution, as they posted the budget incorrectly and shifted funds.
- SPD budget officer Dennis Rhode acknowledged that the ruling had thrown several things into disarray, but maintained that it had not knocked them down.
- Green Party budget minister Sven-Christian Kindler argued that the debt brake needed to be extended and reformed to enable investment, particularly in areas like schools, daycare centers, and sustainable jobs.
- Similar demands were made by the Left Party, with member of parliament Gesine Lötzsch calling the debt brake "nonsensical" and suggesting its suspension for 2024 and its removal from the Basic Law in the long term.
- The coalition government is already lacking 60 billion euros from the KTF alone for energy transition projects, with the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) also set to be wound up due to the Karlsruhe ruling.
- According to Lindner, 17 billion euros are now missing from the budget, while SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert noted that 13 billion euros had been earmarked for projects that should be financed via the KTF climate fund.
- The SPD and Greens are therefore calling for the debt brake to be suspended in 2024 due to the budget shortfall.
- It's uncertain whether the 2024 budget can be adopted before the end of the year due to the coalition dispute, with Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) expressing skepticism about justifying another suspension with legal certainty in 2024.
- SPD Parliamentary Secretary Katja Mast discussed the possibility of declaring a "selective" emergency in 2024 to suspend the debt brake for expenditure related to the war in Ukraine, with the scope of this expenditure remaining unclear.
Source: www.stern.de
