As of: January 29, 2024, 9:51 a.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Wants a reform of citizens' money: CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
The CDU is planning a return to Hartz IV and tougher sanctions.
SPD Health Minister Lauterbach accuses the party of adopting AfD rhetoric.
Berlin – The CDU is once again confronted with the accusation of adopting the rhetoric of the AfD.
This time it was Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) who described the statements by CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann as “immoral”.
Linnemann announced in an interview with
Bild am Sonntag
that if the CDU were to be part of the next government, the first step would be to abolish citizens' money in its current form.
Lauterbach saw this as a rhetorical reference to a constant accusation from the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Opinions about citizens' money are divided in the public discussion.
It is often said that work is no longer worth it.
However, numerous studies, including one by the economic research institute ifo, show that work in Germany always leads to higher incomes than inactivity.
Scientists also confirm that there is no escape from employment into basic security.
Citizens' money replaced Hartz IV on January 1, 2023.
Linnemann's initiative: CDU wants to abolish citizens' money - Lauterbach reacts
Karl Lauterbach emphasized in a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter): “Citizens’ money has replaced Hartz4, an important step forward.”
Regarding Linnemann's statements, the minister added: "Because many people with a migrant background also get it, a constant accusation from the AfD, the CDU wants to go back to Hartz 4." Lauterbach sees this as a clear example of how the AfD is facing the CDU and commented: “Immoral!”.
Sanctions for citizens' money: Linnemann wants to encourage those who refuse to work
In addition to abolishing the newly introduced basic security, Linnemann is also planning to tighten sanctions.
According to the CDU politician, anyone who refuses to work even though they are able to do so must expect strict sanctions, as he told Bild am Sonntag.
Linnemann also advocated that an asset test should again be “applicable from the first day social benefits are received [...]”.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) is also planning a stricter approach.
Anyone who refuses to accept a job will no longer receive any money for a certain period of time, according to the announcement.
According to Spiegel
information , this regulation is
initially limited to February 2026.
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Citizens' benefit cut: Federal Constitutional Court emphasizes the proportionality of the sanctions
However, the scope for such a reduction in basic security is legally limited.
A decision by the Federal Constitutional Court from November 2019 states that the standard rate may be reduced by a maximum of 30 percent.
The judges justified this with the fundamental right to a minimum subsistence level.
It is uncertain whether the Constitutional Court would consider stricter sanctions to be justified.
The Ministry of Labor relies on a special regulation that allows complete cancellation if a recipient of benefits intentionally and without good reason refuses to accept a specific offer of reasonable work.
However, it is clear that only a very small adjustment to the citizen's benefit is planned for the standard rate, as the subsistence minimum was adjusted to the high inflation last year.
“If inflation falls significantly now, the next adjustment will be correspondingly low,” Heil told
Spiegel
.
Editor Jens Kiffmeier wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.