As of: April 2, 2024, 2:59 p.m
By: Amy Walker
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The debate about the upcoming additional spending on armaments is picking up speed again. Economics Minister Robert Habeck is committed to more defense spending - but where would he cut?
Berlin – The special fund for the Bundeswehr will be used up by 2028, that much is certain. After that, a plan is needed as to how Germany will finance defense spending from the regular federal budget in order to meet NATO's two percent target. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) sees scope for up to nine billion euros in the federal budget from 2028 to increase the defense budget. However, a good 15 billion euros would still be missing, according to finance ministry circles.
There is a dispute within the traffic light coalition about where this money should come from. The FDP still rejects easing the debt brake, so taking out further loans is not possible. Instead, she calls for a reduction in social spending. The SPD and the Greens reject this. So it's a tricky situation.
Habeck wants to encourage pensioners to work longer
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is now also joining the debate. In an interview with the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ),
he once again spoke out in favor of easing the debt brake and against cutting social security contributions. “I find the idea that we are dismantling the welfare state because we need more money for the military to be fatal. We are not just in a phase of external threat. Democracy is also under pressure, many people are turning away, and the glue of society is becoming porous. That's why social spending is necessary to hold the country together. We can certainly talk about individual points. So I suggest creating incentives for people to voluntarily work longer as they get older.”
He had already made such a suggestion several times. It is possible that Habeck will present a legislative proposal for tax incentives for people who continue to work after retirement in the summer.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) at a meeting of the Federal Cabinet. (Archive) © IMAGO
However, Habeck still believes an increase in defense spending is necessary. The war in Ukraine “will not stop tomorrow and especially not if Putin is successful. That is the reality and we have to accept this reality.” It must therefore be clarified quickly what will happen after the special fund.
If Lindner and the FDP have their way, the federal government just has to stick to its austerity measures and cut taxes, then there will be enough money for defense by 2028. “If we manage to strengthen our economic growth in the years up to 2028 and if we forego additional costly, legally binding social spending, then we will manage to meet the two percent target,” said Lindner on Tuesday (April 2). .
FDP and Lindner demand discipline in the budget
From the FDP leader's point of view, the prospect of this financing scope should also be an incentive for the Greens and SPD to discipline the federal budget. “I give the figure nine billion euros of additional scope in 2028 so that we are all motivated,” said Lindner. It's not about simply looking for a way out, but about persevering. “Because if we now consistently continue on this path, in the federal budget and also with the special funds, then this reward awaits us.”
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Currently, the Finance Minister criticized, the SPD and the Greens were repeatedly questioning the Basic Law and the coalition agreement in the debate about the debt brake. “This constant disunity is damaging to the external image of the coalition,” emphasized Lindner.
“Hard-working” population must be relieved
Also on Tuesday, the chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Dürr, called for further cuts in government spending in order to stimulate the German economy. The welfare state “should not be allowed to grow any further,” said Dürr in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. Germany has been lacking “reform policy for a decade and a half.”
Germany does not need “an economic flash in the pan”, but rather relief for companies. In addition, the “hard-working” population must be relieved. This requires tax cuts, which Federal Finance Minister Lindner recently brought into play. At the same time, more people need to take up work, demanded Dürr. Also to reduce social spending. That makes more sense than “subsidizing unemployment.”
Habeck and Lindner are thinking about the 2025 federal election
Both Habeck and Lindner are now also thinking about the 2025 federal election – and are working on their profiles. “My advice would be to simply accept the status quo until the federal election. Then the citizens can decide whether there should be more government, more debt and higher taxes or a lean government with fewer interest burdens and lower taxes,” said Christian Lindner on Tuesday.
In the
FAZ
, Habeck defended his party's course in recent years, which has so far brought him little love in the polls. But he does not act purely out of ideology, as many claim: “We do not act out of ideology, but out of what is necessary. We are driving forward the renewal of our energy supply and climate protection. After Putin's attack, we bought liquefied natural gas, brought coal-fired power plants online and extended the life of nuclear power plants. And now we are working for the military security of our country. All because it’s necessary.”
With material from dpa