There are still unanswered questions in the budget dispute. The finance minister has spoken out again. The Union considers the further timetable of the traffic light coalition to be questionable.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) is calling for a faster end to subsidies for renewable energies. “As far as solar subsidies are concerned, there is an urgent need for action. Subsidies have increased massively,” Lindner told the Funke Media Group. “But there is no longer any need for widespread subsidies because they are profitable. This must be ended as quickly as possible.”
Lindner referred to the coalition’s decision to stop subsidies for renewable energies at the latest when coal is phased out. In his view, it could be much quicker, he said. “I have exempted the new small system on the roof of the house from VAT, that is already enough support.” The coal phase-out has been agreed for 2038. The traffic light coalition had planned to bring the date forward “ideally” to 2030.
Lindner also warned of a new debt crisis in Europe if Germany takes on significantly more loans and called on the coalition to take further steps to restructure the welfare state. “We need more empathy for the truly socially disadvantaged and needy – but on the other hand, more consequences for free riders who want money from the state even though they could work, or who are staying in our country illegally.”
Lindner feels “not addressed” by the Chancellor’s message
In the coalition’s dispute over the 2025 federal budget, Lindner says he cannot see any criticism of him from the Chancellor. “I do not feel addressed by the Chancellor’s message,” said the FDP chairman of the Funke Media Group. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously made it clear that a legal opinion on the draft budget certainly allows loans from the railway and the motorway company as a means of financing.
Scholz added in an interview with “Zeit Online”: “It remains a mystery how the actually clear vote of the legal opinion could temporarily be interpreted in a completely wrong way.” Lindner had expressed doubts as to whether around eight billion euros for rail and highways could be financed with loans.
In recent days, the traffic light coalition’s dispute over the 2025 federal budget has flared up again. The background to this are plans to reduce the funding gap in the budget by a total of eight billion euros. Lindner had commissioned reports on the matter due to legal and economic concerns. These partially confirmed the concerns, but also showed ways to implement at least some of the measures.
Lindner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) want to reach an agreement on this and bring about a cabinet decision by mid-August.
Union believes more time is needed for budget discussions
The deputy chairman of the Union parliamentary group, Mathias Middelberg, considers the timetable for the budget discussions in the Bundestag to be questionable. The discussions on the budget for 2025, scheduled for September, should be postponed if the traffic light politicians do not present an “honest plan” in time, the CDU politician told the German Press Agency.
Lindner’s assumption that only a financing gap of five billion euros would have to be closed was “far from reality,” criticised Middelberg. In fact, of the 17 billion euros that had been earmarked in the previous planning as so-called global spending cuts, at least 13.4 billion euros would still have to be financed. And even that is a very optimistic calculation.
Middelberg calls for postponement of budget week
Although spending cuts of between one and two percent were planned in previous budget years, this time they are significantly higher. This year has also already shown that higher outflows of funds are to be expected. A global spending cut is a way of setting savings targets without any cuts being made in individual budget items.
It is also anticipated that not all of the budgeted funds will be spent anyway. Overall, the budget for next year has a volume of 480.6 billion euros – around eight billion less than this year. “Without a significant reduction in the planned expenditure cuts, the first reading of the budget in the Bundestag, scheduled for September, must be postponed,” demanded the Union parliamentary group vice-chair.
Source: Stern
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