Saar government insists on investment commitments
Saarland Minister President Anke Rehlinger (SPD) has demanded reliability from the federal government when it comes to approving investments. "Commitments made must be kept," she told journalists on Tuesday, referring to the planned conversion to a green steel industry, the Wolfspeed chip factory and the hydrogen infrastructure.
Following the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court on the 2021 budget of the traffic light government in Berlin, answers from the capital are now needed very quickly. If the planned investments were not made, thousands of jobs would be on the line. "This would inevitably lead to a very noticeable and serious recession," said Rehlinger.
As a consequence of the ruling from Karlsruhe, Finance Minister Jakob von Weizsäcker (SPD) announced for the Saarland transformation fund that the state parliament would have to determine the extraordinary emergency situation and its consequences once a year in future. However, he did not believe that the existence of this fund was at risk, as it did not correspond to the federal government's model.
At the end of 2022, the state government had set up a debt-financed, three billion euro transformation fund for structural change. Among other things, it is intended to promote the steel industry, a succession solution for Ford in Saarlouis, energy-efficient building renovations and company relocations.
The federal government's approval is crucial for Saarland's planned investments in a green steel industry, a Wolfspeed chip factory, and hydrogen infrastructure, as any broken commitments could lead to significant job losses and an economical recession within the household sector. The Saarland transformation fund, established to finance structural changes, remains secure despite the annual approval requirement set by the Federal Constitutional Court.
Source: www.dpa.com
