Budget dispute in Germany
Scholz, Lindner and Habeck postpone “decisive round” of 2024 budget
From: 01:26 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Finance Minister Lindner comes to the Chancellery for talks
Source: dpa/Christophe Gateau
Talks on the budget crisis are expected to enter the “decisive round” on Sunday night. But Scholz, Lindner and Habeck postponed the meeting again. The leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Dürr, insists on not abandoning the path of consolidation in the preparation of the budget.
The leaders of the traffic light coalition continue to seek money for the federal budget for 2024. According to information from the DPA, negotiations were postponed until Monday, Sunday night. Nothing was initially known about the course of the talks for which Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) met in the Chancellery on Sunday evening. At the SPD party conference over the weekend, Scholz expressed his confidence that a deal could be reached. He ruled out cutting social benefits.
The leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Dürr, has once again spoken out against tax increases to resolve the budget crisis. “Tax increases in a country with the highest taxes are prohibited,” he said on Sunday evening on the ZDF program “Berlin Direkt”. Anyone who talks about wanting to tax the “super rich” in Germany more heavily is usually talking about medium-sized family business owners. “That means you’re not taxing anything other than jobs here,” he said.
Dürr advocated not abandoning the path of consolidation when preparing the budget. “The federal budget will amount to around 450 billion euros next year. This is significantly more than in pre-Corona times. That means the overall volume has really increased,” he said. Now you can “take your time” and take a closer look at where you can save so you can create a solid budget. “Solidity must be applied now. This is what the federal states still need to do now. The federal government is now delivering.”
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Dürr explained that he did not think much about red lines and that he did not understand that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) drew them when it came to social spending. It’s not about overthrowing the welfare state, but rather about seeing how to get more people to work: “And I don’t think there’s a lot of disagreement in this coalition.” Welfare state in Germany.
The traffic light coalition is fighting to plug a 17 billion euro hole in next year's budget and to allow for investments in climate protection and modernization of the economy in the coming years. Over the weekend, the SPD campaigned indirectly for a new suspension of the debt brake. The party conference decided that “the constitutionally stipulated room for maneuver for the budget” must be used in the interests of the population. The war in Ukraine created the prerequisites for an emergency situation that would allow debt to increase.
There is still light: crisis meeting in the Chancellery on Sunday
Source: dpa/Christophe Gateau
On Sunday evening, Scholz, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) wanted to discuss again how they can fill the budget gaps resulting from the Federal Constitutional Court's decision. According to coalition circles, the consultations were considered a “decisive round”. After weeks of discussions, Scholz is now pushing for a solution. Now comes the next round, perhaps decisive.