CDU heads of government from the East are in favor of changes to the debt brake, now an important one from the West is at least willing to talk. Changes are not enough for the Jusos. They want to abolish the debt brake.
After several CDU prime ministers called for a reform of the debt brake, their North Rhine-Westphalian party and official colleague Hendrik Wüst was more reserved but willing to talk. From his point of view, discussing the topic should only be the last of all possibilities, as he did in the ARD made clear.
“First of all, there has to be a clear revelation: What is the actual situation? Then you have to look: What kind of gaps are there? Is what is supposed to be filled really absolutely necessary, after a clear prioritization? And if there is still something left , and we can’t manage the rules of the debt brake, then you can look at it,” said Wüst, who is head of government in by far the most populous federal state – and therefore a corresponding heavyweight within the CDU.
Wegner: “Current design dangerous”
There are calls, particularly from the ranks of the SPD and the Greens, for a change to the debt brake in order to enable future investments. The FDP has so far categorically rejected this within the traffic lights, and the picture in the Union is inconsistent: “At the moment I don’t see that we have to approach the debt brake,” said CDU leader Friedrich Merz recently in the ARD talk show “Maischberger”. CSU boss Markus Söder is also against changes.
However, different sounds came from CDU-governed federal states in the east: Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, like Wüst, appeared willing to talk. The CDU heads of government in Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt, Kai Wegner and Reiner Haseloff, even spoke clearly in favor of reform. “We simply have to ensure that strategically important investments will continue to be possible in times of crisis,” said Haseloff. Wegner put it this way: “The debt brake is a good idea in terms of sound finances. However, I think its current design is dangerous.”
Ver.di: Investments should be excluded
According to the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law, the federal government is permitted to borrow a maximum of 0.35 percent of gross domestic product. For reform, the Basic Law would have to be changed. This requires a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat. The traffic light would also depend on the votes of the Union.
Several unions have clearly spoken out in favor of reform. “In the long term, we need a fundamental reform that enables government investments, for example to lead industry through the transformation towards a sustainable economy or to upgrade the country’s transport routes,” said Ver.di boss Frank Werneke to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung “. “Investments of this kind should therefore be exempt from the debt brake.”
Jusos want an application Federal party conference place
However, in exceptional emergency situations, the debt brake can be temporarily suspended. Werneke correctly stated that the federal government wants to do this in 2023. He also called for this step for 2024. For a temporary suspension of the debt brake, the traffic light – unlike changes to the debt brake – does not rely on votes from the Union. It can decide this with its majority in the Bundestag. According to the Basic Law, this is permissible “in the event of natural disasters or exceptional emergency situations that are beyond the state’s control.” The Bundestag saw such an emergency for the years 2020 to 2022 – twice the focus was on the corona pandemic, and last year the war in Ukraine was the focus.
For the Jusos, neither suspending nor reforming the debt brake introduced in 2011 goes far enough – they are calling for its abolition. “We have to decide whether we want to save the climate or the debt brake,” said the head of the SPD youth organization, Philipp Türmer, to the “Rheinische Post”. For 2024, the debt brake must be suspended in the short term and then “disappear from the Basic Law as quickly as possible,” continued Türmer. “We will apply for something like this at the federal party conference.” The SPD party conference will take place from December 8th to 10th.