The corona crisis costs the federal and state governments billions - money that they will not have in the long term, as CDU economic expert Friedrich Merz finds.
- The corona pandemic and the ensuing lockdown * damage Germany's economy * .
- There is a lot of debate in politics as to who should bear the consequential costs * .
- Friedrich Merz , CDU chairman * candidate , warns: "We cannot spend money indefinitely."
- Here are the most important Sars-CoV-2 facts *, the applicable corona protection measures * and the case number card *. The Corona News for Germany in our ticker *.
Berlin - The corona pandemic is the reason for him: Friedrich Merz (CDU) basically wants to rethink which government expenditure is really necessary. "After the acute crisis, we should put all government services from the federal, state and local authorities to the test," said the former Union faction leader of the Passauer Neue Presse (PNP) . This applies to subsidies as well as to social transfer payments .
Merz was similarly resolute with regard to the picture : "We cannot spend unlimited money." The Bundestag is the budget legislator and not the federal government. One has to go back to normal legislative procedures, the Parliament has to be involved, emphasized Merz, and even further exaggerated his concern: "We must not slip into spending orgies!"
Friedrich Merz (CDU) against "Corona levy" - Esken (SPD) had asked for it
Merz canceled tax increases during the crisis. "Anyone who demands tax increases in this situation hits another coffin nail into the future viability of German companies," Merz told the PNP .
In order for the state to be able to repay debts incurred in the Corona crisis, SPD leader Saskia Esken , among others, had asked for a one-time property tax (casually also called the "Corona tax") - which also triggered some irritation.
More about Merz in the video: CDU politician is infected with Sars-CoV-2
Corona Emergency Aid of the Federal Government - Merz: "Watering Can Solution with ..."
Merz asked to help companies that have proven that they operate successful business models. This would require "the possibility of tax loss carryforwards and tax loss carryforwards". Merz on picture : "This would have given the opportunity to give the companies the money they earned in previous years and hopefully earn again next year."
State aid * is currently being granted with the “watering can” , Merz decided - even for companies that had been in a difficult situation before the crisis. The candidate described the Federal Government's emergency aid as a successor to Angela Merkel as a "watering can solution with very high wastage", and warned: "So please take a close look, check it and, if in doubt, say no if you know that the aid will do nothing. "
ECB ruling from Karlsruhe: Merz criticizes von der Leyen
Meanwhile, Merz also commented on the ECB ruling *. The ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on the controversial bond purchases by the European Central Bank (ECB) is heating the mind. Merz criticized the reaction of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the judge's decision and underlined the powers of the national constitutional courts. Von der Leyen had announced that it would investigate infringement proceedings .
frs with material from dpa
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
