Grant for climate fund: Cabinet approves controversial budget

Because the planned record new debt is not completely required for the corona costs, Finance Minister Lindner is shifting 60 billion euros to the coming years. This is controversial, but it was approved by the cabinet.

The new federal cabinet has approved the supplementary budget presented by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, which is intended to enable massive state investments. With the 60 billion dollar budget, the Ampel coalition wants to top up the energy and climate fund. The draft law is to be discussed in the Bundestag for the first time on Thursday.

“60 billion euros for future investments are a booster for the economy,” explained Lindner after the decision. “This will enable us to sustainably cope with the economic consequences of the corona pandemic and start a powerful departure into a climate-neutral and digital future for Germany.”

Grant for energy and climate funds

The new finance minister of the FDP is taking advantage of the fact that of the new debt of 240 billion euros planned for 2021, around 60 billion euros will probably not be needed. This sum is to flow into the energy and climate fund (EKF) in the form of a subsidy from the federal budget.

The EKF, a federal special fund, was set up in 2011 to enable investments in climate protection and the energy transition beyond the federal budget. Since only previously unused credit authorizations would be used to finance the funds, there would be no additional borrowing, emphasized the Ministry of Finance.

Exception to the debt brake only due to Corona

In fact, the federal government was only allowed to take out so many new loans this year because it made an exception to the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law with a view to the corona pandemic. The reallocation of parts of these funds for the fight against climate change in the coming years is therefore considered constitutionally controversial.

CSU: “Scandalous and constitutionally questionable”

Criticism of the project came from the opposition. Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch tweeted: “The 60 billion that Christian Lindner is reallocating from Corona credit authorizations for his supplementary budget, in particular, pay small and medium-sized incomes who have to buck the mountain of debt of the federal government. And that only because the traffic light means a property levy for 0 , 7 percent of the super-rich blocked. “

CSU General Secretary Markus Blume called the creation of the supplementary budget “scandalous and constitutionally questionable”.

The traffic light coalition sees it differently – and points to a connection between the corona crisis and climate investments. Many investments were not made at all or not to the planned extent as a result of the pandemic, according to information from the Reuters news agency in the corresponding cabinet proposal. “Public investments and the promotion of private investments that promote the necessary transformation to a climate-neutral economy” made a “significant contribution” to alleviating the consequences of the pandemic.