SPD and Greens urge rapid budgetary reconciliation and end to public dispute
"Five billion euros is nothing that can't be handled", said SPD leader Lars Klingbeil in Berlin. The "public circus" about it, however, "could have been avoided". In particular, there was no need for public communication about the audit results "last week", Klingbeil continued, without directly naming Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). It would have been more sensible to first evaluate these internally within the government.
"A government must solve problems and may not get stuck at problem descriptions", said Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) to the Funke media group newspapers (Thursday editions). According to the Funke newspapers, Habeck was "very puzzled" that a report "was made public in a one-sided and selective manner" instead of consulting with the government partners about solutions.
The audit concerns possible loans to Deutsche Bahn and the federal Autobahn GmbH, which would not be counted towards the debt brake, as well as an initially planned reallocation of funds from the promotional bank KfW, which were originally intended for the gas price brake but were not needed there. According to a legal opinion commissioned by the Ministry of Finance, the first two measures are legally justifiable, but the reallocation of KfW funds is not.
However, the scientific advisory board of the ministry evaluated all three measures critically. As an alternative to loans, the increase of Deutsche Bahn's equity was discussed. Lindner spoke of a financial gap of around five billion euros that still needs to be closed by further savings in the 2025 budget plan.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had made it clear on Tuesday that he does not see any problems with the payments for the Bahn and the autobahns based on the audit results. "That's fine," he said to the Zeit Online portal. Without going into detail, he added: "It remains a mystery how the actually clear verdict of the legal opinion could be temporarily misunderstood so fundamentally."
This was partly interpreted as a differentiation from Lindner. The statements by Scholz were "not directed at one person and certainly not at the finance minister" and also not at other cabinet members, said deputy government spokeswoman Hoffmann. The Chancellor wanted to make it clear that "at least two of the three measures are constitutionally possible". The government will now discuss the implementation, with "intensive talks" taking place. Klingbeil referred to talks between Scholz, Lindner, and Habeck.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr rejected accusations of "foul play" by Lindner in the table.media portal. However, Dürr did not want to comment on whether the finance minister had spoken to the coalition partners before passing on the audit results.
The budget spokesman for the Union faction, Christian Haase, described Scholz's intervention as "a reprimand like a schoolboy". It's time for the FDP to leave the coalition, Haase continued in the "Rheinische Post" (Thursday edition). CSU parliamentary group leader Alexander Dobrindt warned the traffic light government in the Bayern media group against "fraud" and "trickery" in the budget.
Following the audit, a budgetary adjustment was necessary to address the financial gap, as acknowledged by Finance Minister Christian Lindner. The potential reallocation of funds from KfW, initially intended for the gas price brake, was a point of contention, with legal opinions suggesting it may not be justified.
The government, led by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has emphasized the legality of at least two of the three measures under scrutiny, with the intention of discussing their implementation in forthcoming talks.
