The Mediation Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat will soon discuss the Growth Opportunities Act. CDU leader Merz demanded Report from Berlin the ARD a traffic light approach. Minister Özdemir warned of a wasted opportunity.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz defended the Union’s position on the Growth Opportunities Act against criticism. The opposition leader pointed out Report from Berlin the ARD on the fact that in the Bundesrat not only Union-led states but also SPD-led states blocked the law. The mediation committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat is scheduled to deal with this on February 21st.
As a prerequisite for their approval, the Union countries are demanding that the gradual abolition of agricultural diesel subsidies be reversed. The federal government has promised to submit a paper after informal discussions – but the Union is still waiting for it, Merz continued: “We hope that this small law will be passed.”
Merz warned that the German economy was entering its second year of recession. This has only happened twice so far. Alluding to the “Agenda 2010” of the then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD), he said: “This federal government must now respond with an Agenda 2030, or better with an Agenda 2040, and not get further entangled in the small and small.”
Business associations urge
18 business associations had previously written a letter to the Prime Minister urgently calling for the law to be passed as quickly as possible. “There is nothing less at stake than the rescue of German medium-sized businesses, which make up 99 percent of all companies and thus the backbone of the German economy,” says the letter tagesschau.de first reported.
The Growth Opportunities Act provides for tax relief and is intended to relieve companies of around seven billion euros annually. The Bundestag has already decided on it. However, the states had stopped the law in the Bundesrat because, in their view, the planned tax relief would tear too big a hole in their budgets and those of the municipalities.
Özdemir: “Don’t break it”
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir also said Report from Berlin, the Union should not “destroy the law for political reasons”. The democratic parties must work together.