Lindner plans small reform of the debt brake next year
The calculation of the economic component is to be adapted to the "current state of economic research", explained Lindner. This will "change the range of fluctuation". Over several years, however, this will not increase the potential debt: "Because the greater leeway in the downturn will be recouped in the upturn."
The economic component states that taking out new loans is generally permitted in bad economic times, but that these must be repaid in better times. The amount of permitted net borrowing is calculated using special formulas.
No amendment to the Basic Law and therefore no two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat is required to adjust the economic component. As only the implementing laws of the debt brake need to be amended for this reform, the majority of the coalition with the traffic light system is sufficient.
TheSPD and Greens welcomed Lindner's ideas for a minor reform of the debt brake - even if they fall short of their own demands for a fundamental reform. In the short term, the aim is to adapt the debt brake to the current challenges, and Lindner's proposal is a building block for this, SPD parliamentary group deputy leader Achim Post told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper. This small reform must now be implemented "very quickly". Andreas Audretsch, deputy leader of the Green Party, told the newspaper: "The topic must be removed from the taboo zone."
The CDU/CSU, on the other hand, sharply criticized Lindner. "In the election campaign, he appears as Mr. Debt Brake, only to circumvent it himself," CSU General Secretary Martin Huber told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. "Instead of saving money and complying with the debt brake as promised, he would rather change the calculation of the debt brake." "Future generations will have to pay for this".
On Friday, the Bundestag retroactively suspended the debt brake for 2023, the fourth year in a row. The traffic light coalition justified the measure with the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the energy markets and the Ahrtal flood. However, the suspension of the debt brake is a direct consequence of the Federal Constitutional Court's budget ruling in November, which made a supplementary budget necessary for 2023.
The Karlsruhe ruling led to weeks of tough negotiations in the coalition government over the 2024 budget, for which a funding gap of 17 billion euros had to be filled. The coalition finally reached a compromise on Wednesday, according to which the gap is to be closed through a bundle of measures ranging from savings and tax increases to subsidy cuts.
The debt brake, on the other hand, is to be adhered to again next year as far as possible. However, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has not ruled out a renewed suspension should Ukraine's military or financial situation deteriorate significantly.
The debt brake has been enshrined in the Basic Law since 2011. It obliges the federal and state governments to balance their budgets "in principle without income from loans". However, a suspension of the debt brake is permitted "in the event of natural disasters or extraordinary emergencies beyond the control of the state".
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- Christian Lindner, the FDP leader, plans a small reform of the Debt Brake for the coming year.
- This reform will involve adjusting the economic component's calculations based on the "current state of economic research," as explained by Lindner.
- This change will alter the range of fluctuation, but over several years, it will not increase the potential debt due to being recouped during upturns.
- The SPD and Greens have welcomed Lindner's ideas for a minor reform of the debt brake, even though it falls short of their demands for a fundamental reform.
- Andreas Audretsch, the Green Party's deputy leader, called for the topic's removal from the taboo zone in support of this small reform.
- The CDU/CSU, however, sharply criticized Lindner, claiming he is circumventing the debt brake during his election campaign promises.
- The Bundestag suspended the debt brake for 2023, the fourth year in a row, due to the consequences of Ukraine's war and the Ahrtal flood.
- Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has not ruled out a renewed suspension of the Debt Brake should Ukraine's military or financial situation deteriorate significantly next year.
Source: www.stern.de
