Exclusive
Status: 06.11.2022 20:19
The traffic light coalition wants to replace Hartz IV with citizen income, but there is a risk of the Union being blocked. Now the CDU leader hits Merz in the daily topics proposes, together with the federal government, to increase the Hartz IV rates this week.
In the dispute over citizen income, the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz wants to offer that the Union, together with the traffic light coalition, raise the standard rates for Hartz IV this week. In an interview with the daily topics Merz said he would propose this to the CDU party executive and the executive board of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group on Monday. He also wanted to take the sharpness out of the discussion.
“We agree with the amount of the rates, and then we can pass a law in the German Bundestag that is binding. But then we have to talk about all the other topics of this so-called citizen money.” There’s a lot to criticize there. Not only the opposition, but also the trade associations and the municipal umbrella organizations say that this system is leading in the wrong direction and, above all, creates the wrong incentives for the labor market. This will not be corrected by the change that the government is now offering.
Traffic light coalition offers improvements
The improvements to the original draft were announced on Friday. Above all, they concern the two-year waiting period – a kind of closed period for beneficiaries with milder regulations. It is now planned, for example, that the heating costs during this time should only be covered to an appropriate extent. The original government draft did not provide for a limit on the assumption of costs at this point.
What has also changed is that benefit recipients can only move to a more expensive apartment during this time if the job center has given their prior approval. What is also new is that in future, in addition to declaring that they do not have significant assets, recipients of benefits will also have to enclose a self-assessment. This is also intended to prevent abuse of benefits, which politicians in the Union repeatedly warn about.
Citizens’ income is to replace Hartz IV in January
According to the plans of the federal government, the citizen’s income is to replace the previous basic security system Hartz IV on January 1st. The aim is to put those affected in a position to be able to concentrate more on further training and looking for work. They should be put under less pressure by the job center. The standard rates of basic security should also increase by around 50 euros per month. The Union had announced that it would block the “citizens’ income project” in the Bundesrat.
Should there be a blockade, the mediation committee would have to decide on the future of the project. The Mediation Committee is a body of the Bundestag and Bundesrat that is intended to find a consensus if laws passed by the Bundestag do not find a majority in the state chamber. A blockade of citizen money could also affect the already tight schedule – and jeopardize the introduction on January 1st.