Press
It’s time to reach an agreement in the budget dispute between the traffic light coalition. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is answering questions from members of parliament in the Bundestag.
Berlin – In the last week of the Bundestag’s session before the summer break, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will answer questions from members of the Bundestag on Wednesday (3 July) (1 p.m.). The Chancellor will open the government questioning with a short speech on a topic of his own choosing, then members of parliament can question him for a good hour on this and all other topics. It is expected that the difficult budget negotiations within the coalition will also be discussed.
Because: the federal cabinet actually wanted to approve the draft budget for the coming year today. But that will not happen. The 480 billion euro budget is becoming a point of contention between the partners in the traffic light coalition. There is still a difference of around one billion euros.
Dispute over budget in the traffic light coalition: Lindner remains firm on debt brake
The budget will not be finalized until two weeks from now – after the summer break on July 17. However, a first plan is expected to be available on Friday. Meanwhile, Chancellor Scholz was optimistic that an agreement would be reached with Robert Habeck (the Greens), Minister of Economic Affairs, and Christian Lindner (FDP), Minister of Finance.
At the heart of the dispute: the debt brake. Christian Lindner is strictly against abolishing or circumventing it, and he rejects new debt. Tax increases to close the hole in the budget are also out of the question for him – most recently he even called for tax cuts.
But the SPD and the Greens are pushing for a relaxation of the debt brake. The FDP, however, remains adamant – Wolfgang Kubicki even threatened to put Scholz a vote of confidence if the debt brake were to be addressed in any way.
SPD and Greens in traffic light dispute over budget for easing the debt brake
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich stressed that a budget emergency must be declared – also due to the war in Ukraine – in order not to pit the country’s security against its modernization. For him it is clear: the debt brake must be suspended. “At the moment we believe that this is the only way to close the gap.”
After the questioning in the plenary session, the Chancellor will attend a meeting of the Bundestag’s European Affairs Committee (2:30 p.m.). Later in the plenary session, at the request of the CDU/CSU, MPs will debate crime committed by people with a migration background in a current affairs session (2:55 p.m.). The coalition’s plan to change the Bundestag’s rules of procedure is also on the agenda: the change is intended to tighten the rules on calls to order in the plenary session (6:00 p.m.). (sischr/afp)
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