The traffic light has been arguing for weeks about the harsh austerity measures, but now the responsible commission has reached an agreement – and the budget for 2024 is already in force. But the Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to make the final decision.
The Bundestag Budget Committee approved the federal budget for the current year in the evening. Spending of around 476.8 billion euros and new loans of around 39 billion are planned. After years of exceptions, the debt brake should once again be fully effective – at least for now.
The Bundestag and Bundesrat are expected to make a final decision on the 2024 budget in early February, but approval is awaited. The so-called adjustment meeting of the Budget Committee is considered a crucial step on the path to approval in Parliament.
Happy head of family
Traffic light faction negotiators were correspondingly positive when they appeared before the press that night. “As factions of the coalition, despite different perspectives, in a context of multiple crises and despite a difficult initial situation of these parliamentary deliberations following the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, we are drafting a balanced budget”, said family heads Dennis Rohde ( SPD), Sven-Christian Kindler (Greens) and Otto Fricke (FDP) after the meeting.
According to the three family heads, the clear focus is on social justice, economic incentives, including fiscal policy, investments in climate protection, strengthening democracy and international cohesion. At the same time, subsidies would be reduced.
Last minute changes
At its final meeting, the commission agreed to some changes to the project for 2024. Among other things, a planned subsidy of 1.5 billion euros from the Federal Employment Agency to the federal government will no longer be available because the good annual financial statements of the 2023 federal budget create the financial margin to waive the subsidy. Furthermore, the planned reinforcement of sanctions on citizens' money will be limited to two years. And finally, Ampel intends to invest another billion euros in new climate-friendly buildings over the next few years in order to stimulate the weakening construction industry.
The Karlsruhe verdict made renegotiations necessary
In fact, the federal budget for the current year should have been decided a long time ago. However, a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court in mid-November thwarted the traffic light coalition's plans. The judges banned billions in Corona loans from later being used for climate protection and economic modernization and from setting aside emergency loans for later years. This meant that the financial planning for the 2024 federal budget was in danger because it was not constitutional. The result: billions of dollars in holes had to be plugged in the budget and the fund for investments in climate protection and restructuring the economy.
The commitment now agreed provides for some financial cuts. Consumers need to prepare for more expensive flights and higher prices for refueling and heating: the tax on tickets for passenger flights and the price of CO2 in heating oil, gas and fuel are expected to increase and bring more money into government coffers. State.
Farmers threaten massive protests
The highly controversial cuts to farmers are also likely to remain in place – at least for now. “The traffic light coalition stands by this commitment,” said Kindler, head of the Green Party. Farmers have been protesting for weeks against the dismantling of subsidies and have paralyzed traffic in many places with several protests. Farmers' president Joachim Rukwied has now threatened further wide-ranging protests from Monday. The previous actions were just the “preliminary shock”, he warned.
Debt brake must be respected again
The much-discussed debt brake wants to return to traffic lights. The promised funds – such as aid to victims of the flood catastrophe in the Ahr Valley – will be paid from the surpluses that the federal government achieved in 2023. Initially, the coalition kept open the option of declaring an emergency situation again for these funds and thus lift the debt brake. This is not necessary now, they said.
However, it is still not entirely certain that the debt brake will be enforced again after several years, with exceptions, in 2024. The SPD, the Greens and the FDP agreed: If more money is needed to support Ukraine at the end of the year – for example because US aid is no longer available – additional loans may be approved.