The federal government has been trying to find a solution for the 2024 budget for days. Green Party leader Lang believes there will no longer be an agreement today. Government spokesman Hebestreit expects a decision this year.
The leaders of the traffic light government are still struggling to reach an agreement on the 2024 federal budget. However, the budget will not be discussed in the federal cabinet today, said Green Party federal chairwoman Ricarda Lang this morning Bavarian Radio. But she expects a decision to be made “very, very soon.”
The traffic light coalition will have to find a compromise, emphasized Lang. It’s about preventing a “state crisis” and showing: “We can do this together and stick together as a government.” The Green Party leader emphasized: “Right now it’s not about who can say in the end, that’s a green dot, that’s a yellow dot or a red dot.” It is important that things are fair.
Government spokesman: News coming soon
The federal government still expects an agreement this year. When asked about a cabinet decision before the turn of the year, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said: “I’m certainly assuming that.”
Whether consultation in the Bundestag and Bundesrat is still possible depends on the timing of the agreement. There will be news on the topic soon, said Hebestreit. But he couldn’t decide on the exact day. The government spokesman went on to say that he had learned that a certain amount of time flexibility was always necessary in the coalition. But he expects a result “very soon”.
Discussion about the debt brake
For days, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) have been trying to agree on a framework for the 2024 budget in confidential discussions. Essentially, the question is whether the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law should be suspended again due to an emergency. The SPD and the Greens want this, the FDP rejects it.
At least internally, the coalition had aimed to deal with this at the regular cabinet meeting today in order to approve the budget before the end of the year.
Written resolution is also possible
However, a decision is also possible in the so-called circular procedure, i.e. in writing. The budget committee would then discuss the matter first, followed by the Bundestag, the latter probably in a special budget week directly before Christmas. The Federal Council could approve the plans on December 22nd.
According to Lindner, around 17 billion euros are missing from the federal budget for the coming year following the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling three weeks ago. The highest German court had declared the reallocation of 60 billion euros to be null and void. The money was approved as a Corona loan, but was later used for investments in climate protection and the modernization of the economy.
Christoph Peerenboom, BR, tagesschau, December 6th, 2023 10:20 a.m