The Union also stuck to its position in the Mediation Committee – and voted against the traffic light proposal. This means it remains unclear whether the Growth Opportunities Act will receive the necessary approval in the Federal Council.
In the dispute between the federal and state governments over a growth package for companies, no agreement appears to be in sight for the time being. Although the mediation committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat decided on a compromise proposal in the evening with a simple majority, the Union continued to reject it.
The Federal Council therefore does not have the necessary approval for the Growth Opportunities Act from Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). The controversial law will be voted on again in the Federal Council on March 22nd.
Linder throws Union attitude of refusal before
In order to pass the law, the traffic light coalition in the state chamber relies on votes from Union-led states. The Union recently made its approval dependent on the government reversing planned cuts in agricultural diesel. The traffic light government has promised to hold further discussions with agriculture about relief, said Federal Council President Manuela Schwesig (SPD).
After the meeting, Lindner accused the Union of refusing. The German economy urgently needs stimulus. According to the Finance Minister, the CDU and CSU have refused the German economy’s call for a relief perspective and growth impulses. He hopes that there will be a rethink in the Union in the next few weeks.
The traffic light government’s proposal provides for a series of reliefs for companies amounting to three billion euros per year. The Bundestag approved the law in November. However, the states in the Federal Council stopped it because they demanded changes. Above all, they criticized the feared tax losses for the municipalities. Therefore, the law was now in the mediation committee.
Agreement for more transparency in clinics
However, the representatives of the Bundestag and Bundesrat were able to reach agreement on the planned transparency law for clinics. Now nothing stands in the way of a decision being made in the Federal Council, said Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). The clinics should also receive a “transformation fund” with a view to a planned major hospital reform, for which 50 billion euros are planned for ten years from 2025. The federal and state governments should each share half the sum.
The Federal Council initially stopped the transparency law passed by the Bundestag in November. The aim is to create an online atlas that gives patients information about 1,700 clinic locations nationwide. It should be clear in the “transparency directory” which hospital offers which services. Data on treatment experience, the staffing ratio of doctors and nurses as well as complication rates for selected procedures should also be available. The launch of the portal is still planned for May 1st, as Lauterbach said.
The law also includes provisions for billions in additional liquidity for the clinics. It is intended to accompany a major reform with new regulations on hospital remuneration, which the federal and state governments have been negotiating for months. When the law was temporarily stopped in the fall, several countries criticized that it would forestall the planned major reform. They complained about interference with their sovereignty in hospital planning.