There is money left in the federal budget because funds have not been spent. For the FDP the consequence is clear. It’s about the debt brake and help for the Ahr Valley. Experts disagree.
The FDP sees a suspension of the debt brake this year due to aid for victims of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley off the table. FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told the German Press Agency: “According to the Federal Ministry of Finance’s final calculations, an emergency resolution for the Ahr Valley is not necessary. The flood aid can be financed regularly from the federal budget.”
There is likely to be a single-digit billion amount left in the 2023 federal budget, as the German Press Agency learned from Finance Ministry circles. The federal government did not exhaust the planned budget funds in 2023. This means that funds would be available for the development aid fund for the Ahr Valley without further savings measures, it was said.
Dürr spoke of a good development. “Suspension of the debt brake could only be justified if the state is acutely overwhelmed in an emergency situation. But – fortunately – that is not the case. As the FDP parliamentary group, we would have major legal concerns about taking on additional debt for this comparatively small amount “In my opinion, suspending the debt brake for this year is off the table.”
2.7 billion planned
In the 2024 federal budget, 2.7 billion euros in aid are planned for victims of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in 2021. The federal government is examining whether the debt brake should be suspended again – politicians from the SPD and Green coalition factions are calling for this.
The debt brake could also be suspended later in the year – namely if significantly more money is needed to support Ukraine than is currently foreseeable.
The debt brake anchored in the Basic Law only provides for a very limited net borrowing. However, it can be suspended in the event of natural disasters or other exceptional emergencies if the state’s financial situation is significantly affected.
In a hearing of the Bundestag’s Budget Committee, the question of whether the Bundestag’s financial situation will also be significantly affected by the flood in the Ahr Valley in 2024 was assessed differently.
Experts disagree
The lawyer Alexander Thiele said that it also depends on whether there were several emergencies in a year that had not yet been combated by taking out loans. “Then even a smaller amount that is then added as a new emergency can, in my opinion, represent such a significant financial impairment,” he said.
The economist and advisor to Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) Lars Feld, on the other hand, argued that the amounts were not significant for the state’s financial situation. Feld also does not assume that expenditure in connection with the Ukraine conflict, such as military support services or costs for refugees, will exceed the “significant threshold”. “At this time it is not yet necessary to declare the emergency situation due to the Ukraine conflict,” said Feld.
As a result of a budget ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, which caused billions in holes in the federal budget, the Bundestag suspended the debt brake again in mid-December for the year 2023 – for the fourth time in a row. The 2024 federal budget has not yet been finalized and the Bundestag still has to approve it. Funding cuts are planned in many places.
Source: Stern
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