As of: January 19, 2024, 4:27 p.m
By: Tadhg Nagel
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Press
Split
The traffic light has completed its budget draft.
The Bundestag will decide on this at the beginning of February.
There is criticism from the opposition.
Berlin – After long, tough negotiations, the 2024 federal budget is about to be passed.
For the traffic light coalition, the approaching conclusion is a success.
Nevertheless, the opposition is harshly criticizing the plans.
The draft for the 2024 federal budget is finally available. The Bundestag is scheduled to approve the package at the beginning of February, and the Federal Council could deal with it on February 2nd.
This ends the debacle surrounding the draft budget for the traffic light coalition, which began with a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court on November 15th last year.
The judges in Karlsruhe ruled at the time that money to deal with the Corona crisis should not have flowed into the climate fund - and thus tore a 60 billion euro hole in the federal budget for 2024.
A debate about the debt brake was also started.
Traffic light wants to go back to normality - Union threatens to sue against draft budget
The problem has plagued the government ever since, because the “Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling came in the middle of the budget process, in which the Bundestag had already set many of its own priorities,” said budget committee member Thorsten Rudolph (SPD) in an interview with
ntv
.
Rudolph is still hopeful that the impending passage of the budget can be “a turning point for the traffic light.”
You are slowly getting out of crisis management mode and “getting back to normal government activities with your practiced procedures”.
Christian Haase, budget spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, is dissatisfied with the 2024 budget draft.
© IMAGO/M.
Popov
The government's plans also include transferring a total of 5.2 billion euros in Corona subsidies from the Federal Employment Agency's basically contribution-financed budget back into the budget.
However, the CDU/CSU faction threatened to sue last week.
After all, the finance minister had “once again presented a budget proposal that is highly problematic from a constitutional point of view,” said parliamentary group vice-president Mathias Middelberg (CDU) on January 11th.
Middelberg doubts “whether it is legally possible to reclaim subsidies from the Federal Employment Agency and whether these funds may be used inappropriately in the planned manner”.
Despite “multiple crises” – a “balanced” budget with “clear priorities”?
When it comes to this matter, Thorsten Rudolph appeared
calm to
ntv .
He “assumes that this question has been comprehensively examined in the ministries involved.”
After all, “no one has an interest in drawing up a budget that is unconstitutional in any aspect”.
In general, the traffic light is satisfied with the new design.
“Despite different perspectives, against the background of multiple crises,” it was possible to draw up a “balanced” federal budget, according to the traffic light coalition’s budget experts, Dennis Rohde (SPD), Sven-Christian Kindler (Greens) and Otto Fricke (FDP). , after the agreement.
There is a “clear focus on social justice, economic incentives including in tax policy, investments in climate protection, strengthening democracy and international cohesion”.
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“Negative standards” of unknown extent – CDU/CSU parliamentary group considers traffic light plan to be “unsound”
The tenor from the opposition is completely different.
“The entire budget process sets negative standards in a form that has never been seen before,” said the budget policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Christian Haase.
The fact that it would have taken four cleanup templates and 1,000 changes to get this far shows “the entire absurdity.”
The entire budget is “unsound” and the entire process is “a farce,” said Haas.
What would stand out above all would be “the potpourri of burdens on citizens and companies amounting to tens of billions.”
The truck toll and CO₂ price were increased, agricultural diesel was eliminated, the VAT for restaurants and gas was increased again, a plastic tax was introduced and the aviation tax was increased.
At the same time, social security contributions for health and nursing care insurance have increased, said Haase.
This does not convey “a mood of optimism”, but rather creates “frustration and fear for one’s own existence”.
The traffic light government “continues to act like dream dancers” and leaves behind a shambles in terms of budget policy.
What Germany needs instead is “a smart and forward-looking policy” - this requires “an economic, labor market, social and financial policy course correction,” said Haase.
(tpn)