The debate on the budget of the Federal Chancellery is the highlight of the budget week in the Bundestag. The so-called general debate, in which opposition leaders and chancellors traditionally duel, lasts four hours. Friedrich Merz speaks for 18 minutes this Wednesday – and he uses it to criticize the policies of the federal government in a combative speech. Chancellor Olaf Scholz answers him for 27 minutes and he spends a large part of this time explaining the German government’s reaction to the war in Ukraine.
An overview of the core statements of the two speeches.
Merz criticizes the fact that the Chancellor is speaking of a “turning point in time”, but that the measures that the government has decided do not take this into account.
- In its budget planning, the federal government is making assumptions that “simply aren’t correct,” said Merz. For example, growth will not be 3.6 percent, as forecast, but significantly less. Inflation will increase dramatically, tax revenues will be lower than planned and industrial supply chains will be in jeopardy.
- In view of this, the budget planning of the traffic light coalition is not solid. She is stimulating the federal budget, which she only calls the “core budget”, to the limits of the constitution and is hiding the burdens of the Corona crisis and the additional costs that are arising as a result of the war in Ukraine in supplementary and special budgets, the exact ones Design is partly more than unclear.
The Union continues to support the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr, which Scholz announced shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine. However, it sets conditions so that it agrees to an amendment to the Basic Law.
- The CDU and CSU insist that more than two percent of gross domestic product be spent on defense in the long term.
- The Union also wants to know in advance which specific purchases are to be financed with the special fund, according to Merz. There will be no “blank check for 100 billion euros” with the Union.
- The special fund must only be available for investments in the Bundeswehr – and not for other projects that only stand for security in a broader sense. “You can do feminist foreign policy or feminist development aid policy as far as I’m concerned. But not with this budget,” says Merz.
- The decision on a special fund must be linked to a reform of the cumbersome procurement system in the Bundeswehr and to reducing the backlog of approvals for armaments projects.
- There has to be a repayment plan for how the 100 billion euros, which are “nothing more than additional debt”, are eventually reduced.
Merz also complains about several points on which the Chancellor has so far failed to reply to Parliament.
- It is completely unclear which weapons the federal government has supplied to Ukraine. There are also rumors that deliveries are being held back due to objections from individual ministries.
- There are doubts about Germany’s position towards China and towards Turkey, both of which are not participating in the sanctions against Russia. The Chancellor does not comment on what agreements have been made in this regard in the EU and in NATO.
- The presidency of the G7 countries, which Germany currently holds, is taking place “largely unnoticed by the public”.
The focus of Olaf Scholz’s speech is the war in Ukraine. President Zelensky can rely on Germany’s help, but there will be no no-fly zone over Ukraine.
- The Federal Republic has supplied tanks, defense weapons and ammunition, and the EU is providing an additional one billion euros for armaments in Ukraine. The international community has decided on “sanctions that are second to none”. The federal government has asked for support worldwide and the sanctions are constantly being tightened.
- Under no circumstances should NATO become a party to the war itself, “we agree with the European allies and the United States on that. Anything else would be irresponsible,” says Scholz. Therefore, calls from Ukraine to monitor the airspace with fighter jets must be rejected. “As difficult as it is, we will not comply,” said the Chancellor.
- Germany will end dependence on Russian gas and oil. But to do that “from one day to the next would mean plunging our country and Europe into a recession in which entire branches of industry would be “on the brink”. Sanctions should not hit the EU harder than the Russian leadership “No one is served if if we put our economic substance at risk with our eyes wide open,” said Scholz.
- By the beginning of April, the federal government will clear up any open questions relating to the accommodation of refugees from Ukraine and the distribution among the federal states. It is not yet known how many people will seek protection in Germany, one thing is clear: “The refugees are welcome here and Germany will help.”
- The Chancellor also addresses the 100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr. The money will benefit a clear purpose, “our ability to form alliances and defend one another.” The urgently needed money for the Bundeswehr is not at the expense of other projects, such as climate protection or projects in social policy.
Scholz then goes on to other major policy areas that particularly affect citizens and explains what the federal government wants to do there.
- In order to become more independent of gas, oil and coal supplies from Russia and of fossil fuels in general, the federal government is already in the process of diversifying its energy sources. In addition, the energy companies will be obliged to keep the storage sufficiently full and to speed up the approval process for wind farms.
- Citizens will also be relieved of mobility costs. However, there will be no “permanent subsidies for fossil fuels”. That was “fiscally unsustainable” and “ecologically irresponsible”.
- The government is still committed to a general obligation to provide proof of vaccination. “We will do everything we can to ensure that a new wave of the virus does not bring our country to a standstill again in the fall, perhaps with a variant that is worse than Omicron,” says Scholz.
- The social projects that the government has initiated so far will be continued. Minimum wage, basic child security and adequate pensions are “not government gifts, but the cement that holds our society together”.