Federal Finance Minister Lindner now expects “very soon” to agree on the cornerstones of the coalition dispute over basic child security. Like Chancellor Scholz before him, he spread hope for a quick end to the long-running dispute.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner also expects a quick agreement on key points in the coalition dispute about the planned basic child security. “I expect that we will have an agreement on the cornerstones of what should be done in the very short term,” said the FDP leader “Summer Interview” des ZDF in Berlin before a new round of negotiations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens).
When asked whether that would happen before the cabinet meeting this Tuesday and Wednesday, Lindner added: “I don’t want to name dates myself, I’ll say: very quickly.” On Tuesday, Scholz and his 16 ministers will meet for their fifth cabinet retreat in the federal government’s guest house at Schloss Meseberg north of Berlin.
According to Lindner, there will still be a lot of technical issues that need to be clarified even after the key points have been agreed. Associations and states would be involved, and only then would there be a finished draft law that would go to the Bundestag. “We will soon have a fundamental agreement and agreement on the cornerstones,” emphasized the finance minister. “The whole process will take some time.”
Scholz also promises an early agreement
Chancellor Scholz had previously announced that the coalition would reach an agreement on basic child security by next week. “The federal government will clarify by next week how the basic child security system will be structured in concrete terms,” the SPD politician told the newspapers of the Bayern media group on Saturday.
Family Minister Paus and Finance Minister Lindner have been at odds for weeks about the implementation of the major project of the traffic light coalition. So far, Lindner only wants to budget two billion euros for the coming financial year. Paus is demanding up to twelve billion euros and recently blocked a law by the finance minister on tax relief.
With the basic child security, services for families are to be combined and also increased according to the will of the Greens. The FDP is critical of increases in benefits and referred, among other things, to the already increased child benefit.
Merz: More money doesn’t solve the problems
CDU leader Friedrich Merz criticized on Sunday ARD-Summer interview with a view to basic child security that more money will not solve the problems. “The better solution would be more support for the children, better educational facilities, better care options.” A joint effort by the federal, state and local governments is now necessary.
The President of the German District Association, Reinhard Sager, warned in the newspapers of the Funke Media Group of a costly restructuring of the authorities. The project should therefore be cut back to a minimum that fits into existing structures. In addition, it is extremely ambitious to want to provide a new service automatically and digitally from 2025. Sager proposes increasing the basic income for children.