- The Socialist Party leader: Lindner is crossing the line of tolerability
The drama surrounding the 2025 federal budget is entering another round and threatens to become a test for the traffic light coalition once again. After Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) signaled a need for further talks, his coalition partners SPD and Greens sharply criticized his approach. The FDP leader's assessment, made without any consultation within the government and published on the day of the major prisoner exchange, "is reckless and exceeds, in my view, the limits of what is tolerable in a coalition," said SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken on the sidelines of her summer trip to Thuringia.
The background is the review of several projects that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens), and Lindner wanted to use to reduce the financing gap in next year's budget by eight billion euros. Two expert opinions raised legal and economic doubts about these projects, especially about the plan to use unused funds from the promotional bank KfW from the time of the gas price brakes for other purposes in the budget.
SPD: Lindner's assessment "eccentric"
From the perspective of the Federal Ministry of Finance, negotiations on savings measures must now be resumed. "Further talks within the federal government and within the framework of parliamentary consultations are necessary," it said from his ministry. In this context, Lindner's ministry also raised the issue of cuts to social spending again.
Esken emphasized that the assessment of the expert opinions was "eccentric even in terms of content." Similar views were expressed by SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Although the legal main opinion considers loan models for the railway and the motorway company fundamentally possible, the Federal Ministry of Finance holds the view that constitutional doubts prevail. "If there are purely factual reasons for this view, then these questions should be clarified within the federal government without public fuss. Anything else leads to uncertainty and creates the impression that games are being played here that do not do justice to the seriousness of the situation," said Mützenich.
Greens criticize "head-in-the-sand policy"
The parliamentary group leader also rejected shifting the budget problem from the government to the parliament. "In the past, some department heads have developed a tendency to pass problems and inconsistencies on to the Bundestag without wanting to take responsibility themselves," said Mützenich. "I therefore expect the government to reach a competent and consensus-based decision on the new budget."
The deputy chairman of the Green parliamentary group, Andreas Audretsch, accused Lindner of a "head-in-the-sand policy." "A finance minister cannot just reject proposals, he must develop solutions," he emphasized. These should not, however, come at the expense of social cohesion or climate protection. There will be no "slash-and-burn" with the Greens.
Budget timetable in danger?
In view of the new turmoil, the opposition raised the possibility of shifting the budget debates in the Bundestag. "By August 16, the government must show how it intends to plug the 17-billion hole," said the Union's chief budget spokesman, Christian Haase, to the Rheinische Post. "Otherwise, the budget debates will have to be postponed." The draft was originally scheduled to be submitted to the Bundestag by mid-August, as parliamentarians need several weeks to work through the extensive data material before a Bundestag debate.
Even BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht emphasized that the budget week in the Bundestag was not feasible. "Naturally, the entire budget must now be put back on the table and renegotiated," she told the German Press Agency. "It would be the next disregard for the parliament to go into the budget week with this unserious figures." Instead of cutting pensions and meaningful investments, a mid-double-digit billion amount should be saved through peace negotiations in Ukraine, a significant reduction in asylum seeker numbers, and a reversal of the heating law.
The Left also warned the traffic light coalition against cuts in the social sector - but proposed a different source of funds. "The reintroduction of the wealth tax would bring additional billions to the states for social affairs and investments in the future, an appropriate taxation of excessive profits and the closure of tax loopholes would bring billions in revenue to the federal government," said party leader Janine Wissler to the Funke media group newspapers.
The financial sector, specifically the Federal Ministry of Finance, is at the center of the latest controversy over budget negotiations, as Finance Minister Christian Lindner's unilateral approach has been criticized by coalition partners SPD and Greens. The financial sector's involvement in the budget review, particularly the use of unused funds from KfW, has raised legal and economic doubts, leading to a standoff within the coalition.
