In view of the budget crisis, the Union is demanding a government statement from the Chancellor. He wants to stick to the goals of the traffic light. Despite all the turbulence, the budget for 2024 should apparently be finalized quickly.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects that the discussions for the 2024 budget will be concluded “quickly”, although the final meeting of the Budget Committee on the budget for next year, scheduled for today, has been postponed.
Scholz also emphasized that the traffic light wanted to stick to its plans for social, climate and economic policy. Specifically, he spoke of the further development of the welfare state, the modernization of the national economy and the ecological transformation. This is important for Germany’s competitiveness and protecting the climate.
SPD parliamentary group wants Budget advice complete quickly
As the Reuters news agency reported, citing circles of participants, the SPD parliamentary group definitely wants to complete discussions on the budget this year despite the cancellation of the adjustment meeting. It was said that at a special meeting of the parliamentary group, an agreement was reached between the housekeepers and the parliamentary group leadership. Group deputy Achim Post and other SPD MPs also said at the meeting that the suspension of the debt brake for 2023 was inevitable. The Chancellor described this as conceivable.
Meanwhile, the head of the Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, warned on ZDF’s “heute journal” against hasty steps in adopting the budget. “It’s better to talk about it for a week or two weeks longer and make the right decisions than to act too quickly now and then perhaps make mistakes later,” he said. The CDU politician Helge Braun, chairman of the budget committee, made a similar statement in the daily topics.
Union demands Government statement
The Union demanded a government statement from the Chancellor next week. “The budget and coalition crisis threatens to turn into a crisis of confidence in our state’s ability to act,” says a letter from the Parliamentary Managing Director of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei, to Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt of the SPD, which is available to the dpa news agency. “In order to avert this, the federal government finally needs clarity and truth.”
In another letter to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas from the SPD, from which the dpa also quotes, Frei calls for a timely meeting of the Parliament’s Council of Elders in order to discuss the next steps in good time before the next week of meetings, which begins on Monday.
Debate about cuts in social services
In order to save further costs in view of the difficult financial situation, the deputy Union parliamentary group vice-president Jens Spahn spoke out ARD morning magazine for a reduction in citizen’s benefit for those who are able to work. Citizens’ money has devalued work, so incentives need to be created there, said the CDU politician. “100,000 more people in work means savings of three billion.”
Another point is basic child security, which has not yet been decided in the Bundestag. “Of course you could leave it alone for now. That would save two and a half billion a year.” The heating law could also be postponed for one to two years. “Then you could save ten billion euros a year.”
Trade unions and social associations once again warned of cuts in the social sector. “Anyone who believes they can score political points by playing off social policy against investments in the future will wake up in a country full of climate deniers and market radicals,” said DGB chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi to the editorial network Germany (RND). Ulrich Schneider, general manager of the Joint Association, also warned the RND against “shredding” the welfare state.
The CEO of the Social Association of Germany (SoVD), Michaela Engelmeier, told the RND: “Now more than ever we need a strong welfare state and a strong government that gives people the feeling that they have the situation under control. Because we already have it a situation in which trust in our state and its social security systems is dwindling.” She called for the debt brake to be suspended and for more revenue to be able to sustainably finance the social budget. “Strong shoulders” such as “rich people, top earners and companies that have recently made huge surpluses” would have to contribute to this.
The president of the social association VdK Germany, Verena Bentele, insisted on a sustainable course in the RND. “Future investments such as basic child security or the heating transition must not be sacrificed for budgetary discipline,” she said. Combating child poverty must be at the top of the agenda.