"Reform of the debt brake not in this legislative period"
Unlike some CDU minister presidents, CDU budget politician Helge Braun rejects a reform of the debt brake before the next general election. He also views a further suspension of the debt brake with great skepticism.
The Chairman of the Budget Committee, Helge Braun, rejects a reform of the constitutionally enshrined debt brake before the next federal election. "As far as the federal debt brake is concerned, I wouldn't want to tackle it twice in this legislative period," said the CDU politician on ntv's "Frühstart".
Individual state premiers of the CDU/CSU had previously called for a reform of the debt brake. Braun argued that the Basic Law had already been amended in this legislative period for the special fund for the Bundeswehr to allow an exception to the debt rules. He is of the opinion "that you can't do this too often in succession". You can't relax the debt brake after every crisis. "Then you indirectly abolish it at some point."
The former head of the Chancellery recommended that the federal government cut back on projects from the coalition agreement. He sees savings potential above all in social spending. However, Braun did not say where exactly the traffic light coalition should make savings: this is now the task of the federal government. "The traffic light coalition has made promises, then it should also tell people honestly where it has promised too much."
Braun rejects a further suspension of the debt brake. According to the CDU politician, it will no longer be possible to justify an emergency situation from 2024 at least. The question now is how the Greens can continue their expensive climate policy and the SPD their high social spending. And the FDP had kept its word "that the debt brake applies". The traffic light coalition had already been unable to agree on the budget with these promises. "That will certainly be difficult," said Braun.
Braun assumes that Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner will once again justify the suspension of the debt brake for the current year's budget with the energy crisis. "If he does this, he can of course only justify the measures that are really directly related to the energy crisis - the electricity price brake and others." This is a problematic approach because Lindner said at the beginning of the year that the emergency was over. The Budget Committee will not "blindly sign off" on the budget, but will take a close look at it.
- In response to calls for a debt brake reform from some CDU state premiers, CDU budget politician Helge Braun expressed skepticism during an interview on ntv's "Early Start," stating, "As far as the federal debt brake is concerned, I wouldn't want to tackle it twice in this legislative period."
- Following the amendment of the Basic Law to establish a special fund for the Bundeswehr, Helge Braun, as the Chairman of the Budget Committee in the German Bundestag, advocated against further suspension of the debt brake, asserting, "Then you indirectly abolish it at some point."
- In the context of budget policy discussions within the traffic light coalition, Helge Braun suggested that the coalition should reconsider its spending commitments, stating, "The traffic light coalition has made promises, then it should also tell people honestly where it has promised too much."
Source: www.ntv.de
