As of: March 29, 2024, 4:08 p.m
By: Hannes Niemeyer
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Christian Lindner has to save for the 2025 budget. A report will now show the first figures to show how much the traffic light ministries have to restrict themselves.
Berlin - It was only a few weeks ago that the traffic light government could finally smooth out the chaos surrounding the 2024 federal budget. But Finance Minister Christian Lindner is already deep into planning for 2025. There isn't much time left. The ministries have until April 19th to determine their spending wishes for the coming year. But one thing is also certain: savings have to be made, financial resources are scarce.
The departments agree that there must be cuts. The big question is: where should savings be made? Opinions differ massively. Lindner himself also wants to save on social spending. The opposition has long been calling for massive cuts to citizens' benefits. There is agreement that defense spending should remain high. However, parties like the Greens worry that the efforts for the military could come at the expense of the welfare state. Economics Minister Habeck recently described such an approach as “fatal”.
Lindner has to save a lot for the 2025 budget - three ministries will probably get off lightly
In any case, the task is big. A gap of 25 billion euros needs to be closed. And – as with the 2024 budget – the Federal Constitutional Court could also ensure that a possible source of savings dries up. Lindner therefore calls for “discipline in the state budget,” as he himself told Die
Zeit
. The Finance Minister is also expecting proposals from the cabinet as to where cuts would be possible. It almost sounds as if trouble is already inevitable - even if the previous budget was supposed to be a warning example. A report will now show which departments are hit hardest by Lindner's austerity hammer.
Lindner has to save for the 2025 budget - the ministries of Svenja Schulze (l.) and Annalena Baerbock (r.) could be hit particularly hard. © dpa | Jonathan Penschek + dpa | Christoph Soeder + dpa/afp Pool | Tobias Schwarz
As the
Spiegel
now reports, three departments are affected mildly or not at all. This includes the Federal Ministry of Defense of Boris Pistorius (SPD), which can probably plan with a similar budget to 2024. This is hardly surprising given the current global political situation. Steffi Lemke's Ministry of the Environment and Marco Buschmann's Ministry of Justice should also be able to plan at the same level. Of course, the budgets of the departments are generally significantly lower than those of the Ministry of Defense.
Figures for Lindner's savings plan for 2025: Baerbock and Schulze are probably hit particularly hard
For example, according to information from
Spiegel
, the Foreign Office around Annalena Baerbock is hit hard. Accordingly, the budget there should be reduced to 5.1 billion euros. This would be 1.6 billion less than in 2024.
The Ministry of Development will also be hit hard. Minister Svenja Schulze has already sounded the alarm. With regard to the upcoming savings, the SPD politician mentioned to the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
that the budget for the current year in her department had already “clearly reached a threshold”. This year the budget is 11.2 billion euros. According to the minister, the Ministry of Finance announced in a letter a budget limit of 9.8 billion euros for her department next year - which would amount to a significant cut.
Savings spark discussions – and put Faeser’s statement in a new light
Other departments are also being hit hard. Volker Wissing's Ministry of Transport should receive around five billion less. This would bring the budget to 39 billion euros – not good news for the German transport infrastructure. According to the report, 13 billion would be available for the Ministry of Family Affairs, which would mean a reduction of 900 million euros. Bettina Stark-Watzinger's Ministry of Education should also receive around one billion euros less, which would be 20.3 billion.
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Meanwhile, there will be a need for discussion about two further departments. On the one hand, there is Nancy Faeser's Ministry of the Interior, which is supposed to accept savings of 1.2 billion euros. Faeser himself had recently spoken of the fact that security in Germany “doesn’t come for free” – possibly a direct allusion to the possible planned savings. However, the Ministry of the Interior recently also received additional grants for new material and staff expansion at authorities such as the Federal Police or the Federal Criminal Police Office.
Forced savings in social spending? Hubertus Heil also apparently has to limit himself
Meanwhile, things remain exciting in the department of Labor Minister Hubertus Heil. The discussion here is particularly simmering about cuts to the detriment of the welfare state. Points such as pension increases and citizens' benefits obviously require money. According to the
Spiegel
report , spending of up to 176 billion euros is
possible. However, the Ministry of Finance is said to have already announced that Heil would also have to make savings. However, in which area and by what amount it is not yet clear.
Lindner and the ministries still have time to develop a plan and submit ideas and savings suggestions. However, the fact that discontent is already spreading is certainly not a good sign for the mood in the government. The traffic light could be heading towards the next major internal conflict.
(han)