Federal Council
Traffic light parties hope that the Union will say yes to the growth package
The parliamentary group leader of the FDP, Christian Dürr. photo
© Jonathan Penschek/dpa
On Friday, the Federal Council will again discuss the traffic light government’s growth package. Most recently it failed there. The FDP and the Greens are confident – but the Union is still waiting for a signal.
The Traffic Light Coalition is hoping for approval of its Growth Opportunities Act on Friday Federal Council and sees positive signals from the Union. He therefore assumes “that the Union will come to its senses in the end and then agree to this law on Friday,” said FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr on Tuesday in Berlin before a parliamentary group meeting. However, Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz made approval dependent on a reliable commitment on the controversial issue of agricultural diesel.
The Union is expecting a proposal from the federal government in the next few days on how the agricultural diesel problem can be solved, said the CDU chairman before a meeting of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. “If the federal government moves here and (…) makes a binding declaration on this, then nothing will stand in the way of the law being passed on Friday.”
The state chamber initially stopped the law and sent it to the mediation committee of the Bundesrat and Bundestag. The CDU and CSU and the states they lead demanded in particular that the cuts in subsidies for agricultural diesel be reversed. Alternatively, the farmers should be relieved of the same volume through other measures. The Bundestag then decided on a slimmed-down version of the package, which will come back to the state chamber this Friday. The package primarily provides for tax relief and a reduction in bureaucratic regulations for the economy.
Companies in Germany are desperately waiting for the relief package, said FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr. “This law provides the first major impetus for an economic turnaround in Germany, which we want to initiate.”
Dürr: Significantly further than a few weeks ago
The Green Party parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge also expressed optimism that the Growth Opportunities Act in the Federal Council will clear the last major hurdle. “I’m sure that quite a few prime ministers in the Union don’t want to expose themselves to the accusation of blocking this important law again, and that’s why I expect them to agree on Friday,” she said in Berlin.
However, the traffic light coalition has not yet been able to present farmers with a finished relief package. But we are significantly further than we were a few weeks ago, emphasized FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr. The coalition is discussing fairer treatment of farmers when it comes to income tax. These would have very different yields from year to year. “It is clear to me that there must be relief, including tax relief,” said Dürr. In addition, relief from bureaucracy is necessary.