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Kulturkampf opened in the traffic light: Three fires from Hartz to gastronomy - Linder confirms Grünen-Zoff

2022-07-19T03:16:12.482Z


Kulturkampf opened in the traffic light: Three fires from Hartz to gastronomy - Linder confirms Grünen-Zoff Created: 07/19/2022 05:04 By: Victoria Krumbeck The Green party leader Ricarda Lang, SPD party leader Lars Klingbeil and FDP finance minister Christian Lindner. © Jens Schicke/IMAGO The traffic light coalition discusses a lot, especially about money. Now it's the issues of VAT, Hartz VI


Kulturkampf opened in the traffic light: Three fires from Hartz to gastronomy - Linder confirms Grünen-Zoff

Created: 07/19/2022 05:04

By: Victoria Krumbeck

The Green party leader Ricarda Lang, SPD party leader Lars Klingbeil and FDP finance minister Christian Lindner.

© Jens Schicke/IMAGO

The traffic light coalition discusses a lot, especially about money.

Now it's the issues of VAT, Hartz VI and the debt brake that the parties are bringing up. 

Munich – The traffic light coalition is once again arguing about money: the Greens want to reconsider the reduction in VAT in the catering trade, the FDP wants to use the debt brake again from 2023.

The SPD's plans to increase Hartz IV payments are also met with resistance from the liberals.

A culture war in terms of finance policy seems to be in the offing – in view of the gas crisis and calls for further relief, now under more stringent conditions. 

Traffic light coalition on VAT, Hartz IV and debt brake

A point of contention: VAT in gastronomy.

During the corona pandemic, VAT on food and drinks in the catering trade was reduced from 19 to 7 percent - limited until the end of 2022. FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner has proposed an extension to 2023.

The cabinet actually approved the plans, but now the Greens seem to have concerns.

Lindner confirmed the Zoff to the dpa: "It is correct that the Greens have major reservations." And further: "I expect a debate about this in the parliamentary advisory process."

The draft budget for 2023 already includes the VAT reduction.

The reduction costs about 1.5 billion.

Lindner continues to promote an extension due to inflation problems.

"If the full VAT rate were to be levied on visits to the restaurant again from January, that would further increase inflation," he explained to the dpa.

The FDP leader fears that prices will continue to rise and there will be no guests in the catering trade.

No increase in Hartz IV with the FDP

Another ditch runs through the traffic light coalition.

The FDP is again involved: It criticizes the plans of Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) to increase the Hartz IV standard rates.

"It applies to everyone in the coalition that they should stick to the goals in the coalition agreement," said the labor market and social policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Pascal Kober, to the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.

The coalition agreement does not provide for a change in the calculation of the standard rates for Hartz IV.

Citizens' income, which replaces Hartz IV, is to be introduced as early as next year.

"I will present the bill this summer and there will be a significant increase in the standard rates at the beginning of next year," Heil said in an interview with the editorial network Germany.

"Our welfare state must ensure that people who have no financial reserves can make ends meet," explained Heil.

“I am determined to change the way we calculate the ruleset.

The previous mechanism lags too much behind the price development.” Likewise, only people with low and middle incomes have to be taken into account in future relief packages.

According to Heil, there is no scope to relieve people with high incomes.

SPD for suspension of the debt brake

There are differences not only between the Greens and the FDP.

The FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr contradicts SPD leader Saskia Esken when suspending the debt brake.

“The call for the debt brake to be suspended again does not get any better if you keep repeating it.

If we don't comply with the debt brake in 2023, we would make the state itself the inflation driver," Dürr told dpa.

"By complying with the debt brake, on the other hand, we are slowing down inflation, preventing further price increases and, by the way, also complying with our constitution." The population must be structurally relieved and the cold progression reduced.

In this way, the population can be relieved directly and permanently, Dürr explained.

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On Sunday, Esken said in the ZDF summer interview that she believed that the debt brake had to be suspended again.

Esken does not consider the return to the brake to be possible due to rising prices and the burden on the population.

After the debt brake was suspended for three years due to the corona pandemic, it should actually be complied with again in the 2023 federal budget.

(vk/dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-07-19

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