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Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier
Photo: CLEMENS BILAN / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
The dispute over the chaos in state corona aid threatens to escalate within the Union.
According to SPIEGEL information, Economics Minister Peter Altmaier was heavily criticized on Tuesday in the meeting of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group.
Group leader Ralph Brinkhaus said according to several participants: »It's enough now.
It can't go on like this. «Carsten Linnemann, head of the powerful SME Union, warned that» a steamroller was going through our retail business «.
According to reports, Linnemann also turned directly to Angela Merkel and asked the Chancellor to "make a clear statement" about the bridging aid before the Prime Minister's Conference on Wednesday.
The bridging aid is the central instrument of economic aid in the crisis, with which operating costs such as rents and electricity are to be reimbursed.
Altmaier's apology
The federal government has long been criticized for the slow disbursement of corona aid to companies and the excessive bureaucracy - especially Altmaier.
As the ministry of the CDU politician announced on Monday, 80 billion euros in economic aid have been approved since the beginning of the Corona crisis.
In addition, there is the short-time work allowance of around 23 billion euros.
According to the information, around 5.2 billion euros were paid out in the November and December aid.
Altmaier had apologized to "Bild live" on Sunday evening for the slow payment of the Corona aid.
“First of all, I apologize for taking this long.
If I had seen any way to speed it up, I would have.
Altmaier, as participants describe it, put the blame for the problems with the bridging aid on Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from the SPD.
In his house there were several objections to the rules, which ultimately led to delays, argued the Minister of Economics.
He had to wage a kind of "guerrilla war" with the Ministry of Finance.
But at the next group meeting you have security.
"I'm tired of it"
Altmaier couldn't get away with this line.
"I'm tired of it," Brinkhaus snapped at the minister, setting the tone in the debate that followed.
It doesn't matter who is to blame.
The money must flow now, the companies are waiting, they cannot be left alone.
Other MPs also expressed some violent criticism of Altmaier's actions, and there was later talk of the minister's "dismantling" internally.
The CSU politician Emmi Zeulner is said to have turned to Altmaier with the words, she believes, "not everyone in your house means well with you." Discard the SPD.
"Nobody understands this eternal blaming, Peter," Linnemann, who is also the parliamentary deputy, is quoted as saying.
Merkel also had to listen to some violent fundamental criticism of her corona rate.
MP Andreas Mattfeldt told her that she was stubborn and lacking courage.
He reportedly recommended the Chancellor to look at the figures in Italy and Luxembourg.
There, according to Mattfeldt, hairdressers and retailers opened again some time ago - and yet the numbers did not explode.
The Hamburg MP Marcus Weinberg criticized that the fate of families was not properly considered.
"The families can no longer", he is quoted as saying.
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