Finances - Rehlinger in favour of modernizing the debt brake
Saarland Minister President Anke Rehlinger (SPD) is in favor of changes to the debt brake enshrined in the German constitution. "I don't want to abolish the debt brake, but I believe we need to modernize the debt brake," she told the German Press Agency. Following the ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in November, the debt brake "has also become a brake on investment and therefore a brake on the future".
It must therefore be adapted to the challenges. Rehlinger called on the CDU/CSU parties to "stop playing party tactics and open up to this debate". This is also the opinion of some CDU state premiers. "The sooner the better," she said on the urgency of change. It remained to be seen whether this would be possible in the "current government constellation" or whether, after an interim step, "we will see what the majorities are like after a federal election".
For her, it is conceivable, for example, that the special fund for the Bundeswehr, which was expressly anchored in the Basic Law by constitutional amendment, could be implemented. Such a "kind of transformation special fund" would then not allow consumptive expenditure, but only "future investments that we need in our country". The demarcation is certainly not easy: "But what we are experiencing right now and the pull-ups that have to be made now are not easy at all."
It must be borne in mind that the federal states also remain capable of acting and need "leeway". The federal states have very different regulations. In Saarland, there is no debt brake in the constitution. The fact that there is no separate Saarland debt brake in the constitution is now "perhaps a fortunate circumstance".
The debt brake was enshrined in the Basic Law in 2009 due to Germany's gigantic national debt. According to this, the federal and state governments may no longer balance their budget deficits by taking out loans.
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- Anke Rehlinger, the SPD's Minister President of Saarland, has advocated for the modernization of the debt brake, a fiscal rule embedded in Germany's Constitution.
- The CDU/CSU parties were urged by Rehlinger to abandon party politics and engage in the debate regarding the modernization of the debt brake.
- Rehlinger expressed concern that the current rules for managing the debt brake were hindering investments and thus hindering the nation's future potential.
- In the context of the debt brake, Rehlinger suggested the possibility of utilizing a special fund for the Bundeswehr, which would only permit funding for future investments.
- The lack of a debt brake in the constitution of Saarland, as compared to the other federal states, was highlighted by Rehlinger as a fortunate circumstance due to the challenges currently facing Germany's finances.
- The debt brake was instituted in the Basic Law in 2009 to prevent the federal and state governments from incurring additional debt without balancing their budgets.
Source: www.stern.de
