In political Berlin, budget negotiations are traditionally synonymous with brutality. In the coming year, as Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner made it clear to his colleagues weeks ago, savings will have to be particularly rigorous. What this means in concrete terms now becomes clear from the specifications that Lindner’s people sent to the Development Ministry (BMZ) a few days ago and which the South German newspaper present.
The House of Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) is therefore asked to submit its budget plans by April 19th. For the so-called Individual Plan 23, i.e. the BMZ budget, a ceiling of 9.878 billion euros should apply – at least that is how the Federal Ministry of Finance imagines it.
The budget had already been cut in recent years
There is great horror in the BMZ because the amount is once again significantly below what was planned in the so-called medium-term financial planning for 2025. There they were talking about 10.3 billion euros – and the BMZ had hoped to be able to adjust this amount upwards. Especially since the budget for German development policy has already been significantly reduced in recent years: in 2023 the BMZ still had 12.16 billion euros at its disposal, and 11.2 billion is budgeted for this year.
The fact that Lindner wants to make such significant cuts to development policy has political explosives for the traffic light government. In the coalition agreement, they had actually agreed to spend at least 0.7 percent of national economic output on development policy. This so-called ODA quota would most likely not be met under the new austerity guidelines.
The Federal Development Ministry has not commented on the ongoing budget process. However, Minister Svenja Schulze recently sent an unusually clear message to the finance minister at a press conference on a UN report: Germany is one of the richest countries in the world, said Schulze. You don’t just have a moral responsibility towards people who are starving or fleeing. It would also be about your own interests. German prosperity is built on cosmopolitanism. “Not investing in development policy would be much more expensive, especially for an exporting country like Germany, than anything that could be saved nationally.” She is therefore vigorously defending herself against further cuts in her budget. There were already significant savings last time. The pain threshold has “clearly been reached for me”.
Behind the scenes the tone is said to be even rougher
This is remarkable for Schulze, who always appears obliging – and behind the scenes the tone is said to be even rougher.
Lindner’s budget plans are also met with outrage among non-governmental organizations. Stephan Exo-Kreischer, European head of the development organization One, speaks of a “clear-cutting” and a “lack of global political understanding”. In Africa, Germany is “losing one partner after the other, while Russia and China are being welcomed with ever more open arms,” said Exo-Kreischer when asked by SZ. “It’s frightening what Lindner is willing to sacrifice on the altar of the debt brake.” The consequences of cuts in development policy “will cost us many times more expensive tomorrow.”
The budget negotiations are being watched with particular attention this year due to the tense financial situation. Unlike usual, the Federal Ministry of Finance does not want to negotiate key figures for their budgets with individual departments, but has instead sent the ministries budget caps. If the plans, which all houses must submit by April 19, do not meet the respective upper limits, they could not be accepted, Lindner let his colleagues from the federal government know. Whether it stays that way remains to be seen – the potential for conflict in the coalition is likely to be enormous. In the case of the BMZ, it seems conceivable that Schulze will simply ignore Lindner’s strict requirements and declare higher financial requirements. In any case, the timetable for an agreement in the coalition is tight: on July 3rd, the cabinet is scheduled to approve the draft budget for 2025 and the financial planning until 2028.