The federal board meeting of the FDP will take place at 12 noon, around 3 p.m. the decision will be announced. The other two parties have already agreed.
FDP General Secretary Volker Wissing said he was confident that coalition negotiations with the SPD and the Greens would succeed. When asked about a possible failure, Wissing said on Monday on NDR Info: “This is not an option for us.” You need a stable federal government. “And while we were having the talks, you also saw that alternative options to the traffic light are becoming increasingly unlikely.” He is confident “that we can do it”.
“Personnel discussions premature”
Discussions about possible appointments in a traffic light government were described by Wissing as premature at the present time: “That will not help anyone now.” FDP leader Christian Lindner had previously spoken out against public debates about ministerial posts, but at the same time signaled interest in the key finance department.
Lindner also expressed the expectation that a ministry will be created in the new federal government that will be in charge of climate protection. “But that is not an existing appointment,” he emphasized on ZDF. He had previously said on ARD: “There is the Federal Chancellery, there is the Ministry of Finance, there is a new Ministry for Climate Change. And I am of the opinion that each of the partners must have an opportunity to have a creative impact.”
With the Greens, the speculation about personnel met with anger. Party leader Robert Habeck described them as “not helpful”. “It is part of fairness, good manners and also political wisdom not to do that now. In case of doubt, you only increase your own height,” he said on ARD. The Greens and the FDP have very different ideas about financial policy. “The confidence that it will then happen as agreed has yet to be proven, also in the coalition talks.” Baden-Württemberg’s finance minister Danyal Bayaz (Greens) had previously advertised Habeck as finance minister himself.
SPD general secretary Lars Klingbeil assumes that the traffic light coalition negotiations will start “very quickly” if the FDP also clears the way on Monday. Then it will also be about the cutting and distribution of ministries. On the criticism of the lack of funding in the traffic light exploratory paper, Klingbeil says on ZDF that there is already money in the households. In addition, growth will lead to more tax revenue. And finally, the agreed global minimum tax will wash almost six billion euros into Germany’s coffers.
On Friday the negotiators of the parties ended their explorations and presented a result paper. Thereafter, there should be no tax increases and the debt brake should be adhered to. The statutory minimum wage is to rise to 12 euros per hour. In terms of climate protection, accelerated expansion of renewable energies and an exit from coal are planned, ideally by 2030, among other things.
