Status: 06.07.2022 4:49 p.m
Chancellor Scholz answered questions from MPs. He advocated proceeding with caution in the discharge debate and warned against constant new proposals. The ring exchanges with weapons for Ukraine should start soon.
During the government survey in the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that the two relief packages with a volume of 30 billion euros “were not enough” as a measure against price increases. At the same time, he warned against making new relief proposals every day.
In doing so, he was reacting to demands from his coalition partner, the FDP, for the abolition of cold progression in wage and income tax. This occurs when the tax system is not adjusted to inflation. Employees can then slip into a higher tax bracket in the event of wage increases, for example, and therefore have less net money available than before.
In this context, Scholz called for the debate on relief to be left to the “concerted action” with trade unions and employers. “If a large, gigantic sound carpet of suggestions is laid over everything, then the citizens will no longer have the impression that we, as those responsible, are doing what we are asked to do.”
Scholz wants a broad consensus on measures
From the debate within the “concerted action” one could then derive the individual steps, “also of a tax nature”. According to Scholz, he is striving for a broad social consensus.
The “concerted action” with top representatives of employers and trade unions is to meet several times in the coming weeks for consultations and by the autumn to work out concrete proposals on how the burden on citizens can be relieved. The next meeting is scheduled for September. The time until then should be used for many discussions among each other in order to “make it well prepared”, said Scholz.
Innovations in migration policy
Also this year, the federal government intends to present proposals for simplifying the immigration of skilled workers. This should include the new regulation that particularly qualified specialists are allowed to enter Germany via a point system to look for a job, even if they do not yet have a permanent job in this country.
Men and women who “can do so much that it is very likely” that they will soon find a job should benefit from this point system, said Scholz. “We will only be able to maintain our prosperity if we can continue to secure the high number of employees we have today in the future,” said the Chancellor. “Immigration” is also necessary for this.
On the occasion of the major problems at German airports, Scholz said that the government’s planned measures not only include permission for the industry to bring employees from abroad and hire them directly at collective wages. It will be part of it “generally creating better working conditions in this area,” said Scholz.
A lack of staff in baggage handling, among other things, had caused chaotic conditions with long waiting times at airports during the summer travel season. During the pandemic, airports, airlines and service providers had cut staff and lost skilled workers who were looking for other jobs. As a remedy, the government had promised quick regulations so that operators could temporarily hire staff, especially from Turkey – with specific guidelines to prevent social dumping.
Ring exchanges for Ukraine are set to start now
On the subject of arms deliveries to Ukraine, Scholz said that the planned German arms deliveries in the ring exchange procedure should now start shortly. “We have prepared several ring exchanges,” said Scholz. The Bundeswehr will provide the Eastern European allies involved with “modernized weapons from German stocks” so that they can deliver their own Soviet-designed weapons to the Ukraine.
When asked by the CDU MP Johann Wadephul whether the chancellor could specify which security guarantees for Ukraine the G7 are committed to, Scholz said: “These security guarantees will not correspond to Article 5 of the NATO treaty.” This article regulates the alliance case in the event of an armed attack on one or more NATO members.
At the same time, he emphasized that the talks had not yet been concluded and that it was therefore not yet possible to make them more specific.
Sharp criticism of AfD
In connection with the war against Ukraine, Scholz accused the AfD of making itself a “handy for Russian interests”. He was reacting to a speech by AfD MP Stephan Koethe, who had criticized the sanctions against Russia because of the Ukraine war as “useless”.
The AfD is unrealistic and “Russia’s party,” said Scholz. “They don’t realize that there really is a war in Ukraine, that Russia has attacked the country, that an unbelievable number of people are dying right now.”