DThe federal and state SPD parliamentary group leaders see their long-held aversion to the debt brake confirmed by the budget ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG). In its current form, it is not suitable for the challenges of the future, according to a position paper that the SPD parliamentary group leaders decided on Tuesday at a conference in Duisburg.
The debt brake is currently a “brake for the future” because it is important to invest in “what makes us strong as a country and enables prosperity for everyone: an efficient infrastructure, successful education, social climate protection, social housing and digitalization,” it says Paper. These future investments paid off. Every euro invested in this sense is a euro for future prosperity, for future jobs and good wages.
“The debt brake in its current form is not suitable for the challenges of the future, as the BVerfG ruling of November 15, 2023 has shown once again,” write the SPD parliamentary group leaders. There is no way around fundamental reform. “In the interest of Germany as a business location and the prosperity of future generations, the CDU/CSU and FDP can no longer refuse the urgently needed debate.” In the past few days, calls have already been made from the federal SPD to suspend the debt brake in 2023 and 2024.
In order to enable investments, the Social Democratic parliamentary group leaders are also calling for “very high incomes and inheritances from multimillionaires and billionaires” to be more involved in financing the common good. “We are pursuing clear goals with the additional revenue for the federal and state governments: a significant share should flow into the German Education Pact. By mobilizing state and private capital, we are investing in a climate-neutral and digital Germany,” says the position paper.
Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court found a reallocation of loans worth 60 billion euros in the 2021 federal budget to be unconstitutional. The money was originally approved by budget lawmakers to deal with the Corona crisis. The traffic light government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) now wanted to use the remaining funds for climate protection and the modernization of the economy. In response to the Karlsruhe ruling, the Federal Ministry of Finance has now blocked numerous items in the federal budget.
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