Union criticizes traffic light budget 2024 as "totally rotten"
After weeks of negotiations, the leaders of the traffic light parties finally agree on a new budget. The government's plans are met with skepticism from the opposition. The CDU/CSU criticized that the savings were minimal and complained of "a massive increase in taxes at the expense of citizens and the economy".
The CDU/CSU has sharply criticized the budget agreement of the traffic light coalition. "The agreement on the 2024 budget is rotten. The real savings in the budget are minimal," parliamentary group deputy leader Mathias Middelberg told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" newspaper. He also expressed skepticism as to whether the debt brake would actually be adhered to "throughout the year" as announced by the government.
"The main lever for balancing the budget is the increase in the CO2 price," said Middelberg. "This is simply a massive increase in taxes at the expense of citizens and the economy," he criticized with regard to the associated additional costs for refuelling and heating. Whether and when these additional burdens would be offset by the promised climate money, however, was still left open by the "traffic light".
"There are no clearly recognizable efforts to get more citizens' allowance recipients into employment," Middelberg continued. "But this could save a lot of money."
Frei skeptical about debt brake exception for Ahrtal aid
The easing of the debt brake in connection with the flood disaster in the Ahr valley in 2021, which was brought up by the traffic light government, also met with criticism from the CDU/CSU. The conditions for releasing the debt brake "are precisely not given. This is not a new natural disaster," said Thorsten Frei, Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, on the Phoenix television channel. He added: "This is not an unforeseeable event that cannot be influenced by the state and would have a serious impact on the organization of state finances. After all, these are the constitutional requirements."
Frei said that both the aid in the Ahr valley and for Ukraine were very worthy of support and were shared by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. "But to say that something like this only works by suspending the debt brake or through another technical construct that would, so to speak, override the rules of the Basic Law, I would simply deny that." The Ahr Valley involves a volume of around 1.6 billion euros. "With a federal budget of over 470 billion euros, that's nothing that would upset the state finances," said Frei.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously announced that the "traffic light" party was examining an exception to the debt brake for further payments in connection with the Ahrtal aid. The Ampel will approach the CDU/CSU as the largest opposition parliamentary group and ask for their support for this step.
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While the traffic light coalition finalizes their budget agreement, the CDU/CSU voices strong criticism, claiming that the savings are minimal and accuses the coalition of imposing a substantial tax increase on citizens and the economy. The CDU/CSU deputy leader Mathias Middelberg argues that the increase in the CO2 price, intended to balance the budget, will solely result in additional burdens for citizens and businesses. Furthermore, Middelberg emphasizes a lack of visible efforts to boost employment among citizens' allowance recipients to curb costs.
Thorsten Frei from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group is also critical of the proposed debt brake exception for flood aid in the Ahr valley. He disputes the argument that suspending the debt brake is necessary to provide relief, stating that the proposed action fails to meet the constitutional requirements of a new natural disaster or unforeseeable event. Despite sharing the CDU/CSU's support for disaster relief in both Ahr Valley and Ukraine, Frei opposes the proposal for utilizing an exception or technical construct that would circumvent the Basic Law's fundamental principles.
After the announcement of Chancellor Olaf Scholz examining an exception to the debt brake for further Ahrtal aid payments, the traffic light coalition is set to approach the CDU/CSU as the largest opposition parliamentary group, seeking their endorsement for this step.
Source: www.ntv.de
