After grueling budget negotiations, the traffic light coalition has pulled itself together. She is cutting and saving countless places in the budget for 2024. Chancellor Scholz defended the new draft in the special program “Show Colors”.
A higher CO2 price, the reduction of environmentally harmful subsidies, but if possible no suspension of the debt brake: the traffic light coalition has found a solution to close the gap of 17 billion euros in the 2024 budget. This should be achieved largely through savings.
Above all, the higher CO2 price will have a broad impact – through higher fuel prices, higher electricity prices, and perhaps indirectly higher food prices. In the ARD special program “Show Colors,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended the planned measure.
Scholz: higher prices help to achieve climate goals
The federal government has decided to “return to the path of the last federal government.” This wanted to increase the CO2 price from 2023 to 2024 by 15 euros to 45 euros. The traffic light slowed the increase due to the energy crisis caused by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
“Now we are returning because we believe that higher pricing can help us achieve our climate goals and finance the tasks of the federal budget – especially when the transformation and modernization of our economy are lacking,” said the SPD -Politician.
Instead of increasing taxes, the federal government is reducing environmentally harmful tax subsidies. “They were always included in the list of subsidies that should be eliminated.” Now is the right moment for it.
Kerosene taxation a “smart, necessary step”
“These are all things that are very justifiable,” said Scholz. “If, for example, we say in the aviation tax that there should no longer be certain reductions, then that is a very smart, necessary step.” This also applies to other measures: “Very justifiable, very responsible also in view of the burdens on citizens, which are not widespread and large.”
According to Scholz, spending from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) should fall by twelve billion euros next year and by 45 billion euros by 2027. All of this was achieved “without the things actually having to be complained about. There are no social cuts, there is no tax increase on income tax or on corporate taxes,” said Scholz, defending the planned measure of abolishing tax breaks for the Agricultural diesel.
“In the end, actions and performance count”
When asked how Scholz deals with the fact that citizens’ trust in the traffic light and also in him as Chancellor is in the basement after the budget chaos, Scholz replied that the federal government has challenges such as the corona pandemic, the Russian attack on Ukraine and have to deal with the energy crisis. “We’ve overcome a lot and that’s why I’m confident that in the end it’s the actions and the performance that count.”
The traffic light brought about many things that could be the basis for “achieving in the next two years that, in view of the results, the approval of the entire government and the parties supporting it – including mine and also the Chancellor – is good enough to run for re-election.”
You can see the entire interview with Olaf Scholz on the program “Show your colors” on the first at 8:15 p.m.