As of: March 25, 2024, 10:59 a.m
By: Jens Kiffmeier, Nils Hinsberger
Comments
Press
Split
The Federal Council has voted on the Traffic Light Growth Opportunities Act.
The state chamber gave the green light.
But the Union continues to respond with criticism.
Government
makes
concessions
: Traffic light coalition wants to obtain approval with subsidies for farmers
Growth Opportunities Act
in the
Bundesrat
: CDU and CSU make demands on the federal government
Farmers
skeptical: Farmers' President sees a need for improvement in the traffic light offering
Update from March 22nd, 1:56 p.m
.: The federal government welcomed the Federal Council's decision on the Growth Opportunities Act with relief - and at the same time promised further relief.
The approved growth package is an important signal, explained Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) on Friday on X (formerly Twitter).
“But its volume is significantly smaller than I originally planned.” Further steps must now be taken to improve the economic situation.
“We are working on it,” promised Lindner.
Despite the Growth Opportunities Act, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) still sees scope for further relief.
© Jonathan Penschek/dpa
After negotiations in the Mediation Committee: Federal Council votes for Growth Opportunities Act
Update from March 22nd, 10:05 a.m
.: Success for the traffic lights: The billion-dollar growth package with tax relief and reductions in bureaucracy for companies has been approved.
The Federal Council approved the so-called Growth Opportunities Act on Friday (March 22nd) by a majority after negotiations in the Mediation Committee.
The decision was supported primarily by the SPD, FDP and the Greens.
However, a few yes votes also came from the CDU-led federal states.
After mediation between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the draft law provides for tax relief for companies worth 3.2 billion euros.
Originally, around seven billion euros were planned.
Until recently, the Union had linked its approval to the project to a withdrawal of the announced subsidy cuts for agricultural diesel for farmers.
However, this has nothing to do with the Growth Opportunities Act, said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) in the debate.
Friedrich Merz calls for relief for farmers.
In return, he wants to clear the way for the traffic light growth opportunity law.
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
Prime Minister Manuela Dreyer (SPD) also argued in this direction and accused the Union of “dishonesty” on this point.
She pointed out that the traffic light would help farmers elsewhere, through tax advantages, a greater reduction in bureaucracy and obligations for fallow land that is temporarily not allowed to be cultivated.
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Criticism from Bavaria: Union accuses Ampel of failing in the Growth Opportunities Act
Nevertheless, the Union does not withdraw its criticism of the growth law.
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) called the traffic light legislative package "not an acceptable answer" to the challenges.
In contrast to many other EU countries, Germany is experiencing economic stagnation.
As a result, dissatisfaction is growing in this country and the federal government is only relying on a homeopathic treatment of the causes with the legislative package, criticized the Christian Socialist.
Because of the dispute over agricultural diesel, the federal government has now promised relief for the agricultural sector, but did not present a package of concrete measures until the vote in the Federal Council.
Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) told the dpa
news agency that they are “in close contact with the profession
. ”
The plan is to ease income tax and strengthen farmers in the value chain.
Above all, it is about reducing bureaucracy.
Lindner explains: The Growth Opportunities Act has nothing to do with agricultural diesel
Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) made it clear that he sees no connection between possible relief for farmers and the growth package.
“There is no connection to agricultural policy; the Union has constructed it,” he said.
The Union is also not in a position to impose such conditions because it shares responsibility for the poor competitive situation in the German economy.
“During the CDU’s time in government, since 2014, we have dramatically lost competitiveness.”
The state chamber also gives the green light to reduce the subsidy for agricultural diesel
The gradual dismantling of agricultural diesel subsidies was also still up for vote in the Federal Council on Friday.
The state chamber then also gave the green light for the dismantling of subsidies for agricultural diesel.
The majority of the states voted against referring the relevant law to the mediation committee.
This means that further measures to consolidate the federal budget for 2024 have been decided, such as a higher aviation tax and stricter sanctions on citizens' money.
Growth Opportunities Act: Meeting in the Federal Council has begun
Update from March 22nd, 9:39 a.m.:
The Federal Council has opened its meeting.
The Growth Opportunities Act is already up for debate as item two on the agenda.
Update from March 22nd, 8:45 a.m
.: Before the vote in the Federal Council, the Union reiterated its criticism of the Growth Opportunities Act.
The law only provides for “small relief for the economy” and no “structural improvements,” said Union Parliamentary Secretary Thorsten Frei (CDU) on Friday in the
ZDF
“Morgenmagazin”.
“This comes at the price of a tax increase of 440 million euros for a certain small part of the economy, namely agriculture.” This does not add up.
“We would like to relieve the burden on the economy as a whole, so we have to come to a different solution here,” said Frei.
The Growth Opportunities Act provides relief for companies amounting to around three billion euros per year.
The Federal Council had already put the brakes on the project in November and referred it to the mediation committee.
An agreement was reached there in February, but the Union continued to make its approval of the project conditional on the withdrawal of the abolition of subsidies on agricultural diesel for farmers;
The deletion is planned together with other austerity measures via the Budget Financing Act.
Dispute over agricultural diesel and subsidies: Federal Council decides on Growth Opportunities Act today
First report
: Berlin – The traffic light government could fail again in the Bundesrat with its growth opportunities law.
After the federal government passed the law on November 17, 2023, the Federal Council stopped the project for the time being and called the mediation committee.
The main reason was the demand from the CDU and CSU to reverse the cuts in the agricultural diesel subsidy for farmers.
After an initial failure, the Bundestag agreed on a significantly slimmed down version of the Growth Opportunities Act.
Now we hope for the approval of the Federal Council and “that the Union will come to its senses in the end and then agree to this law on Friday,” said FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr at a parliamentary group meeting in Berlin.
Relief for farmers – Ampel hopes for the Union’s approval of the Growth Opportunities Act
By promising relief for farmers, the federal government probably wants to settle the dispute over the planned Growth Opportunities Act.
“We are united by the goal of relieving the burden on agriculture,” said Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir in a press release.
In order to relieve the burden on German farmers, they met for talks.
The traffic light coalition must now hope that the Union parties are satisfied with the proposal.
Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz recently emphasized that approval of the federal law would be dependent on the federal government moving forward with support for farmers and “making a binding declaration on this.”
If all demands were met, “there would be nothing standing in the way of the law being passed on Friday.”
Ampel wants to strengthen Germany as a business location with the Growth Opportunities Act
The federal government wants to improve the economic situation in Germany with investments and tax relief.
The traffic light coalition sees an acute need for action, as current crises such as the Ukraine war and the corona pandemic have severely affected companies, as the specialist publisher
Forum
reported.
Overall, the Growth Opportunities Act includes four central points.
These are:
Strengthening the competitiveness and growth opportunities of the economy
Simplification of the tax system
Modernization of tax law
Improving tax fairness
Farmers are skeptical about the traffic light compromise proposal
The farmers' association had taken the federal government's previous proposals positively, but also criticized that the offer was too vague, the
Tagesschau
reported .
With a view to the talks, Farmers President Joachim Rukwied sees “significant need for improvement” and demands that the agricultural diesel subsidy should “not be lost sight of”.
It therefore remains to be seen whether the Union will agree to the law under these conditions.
(nhi)