The Bundestag has approved the controversial supplementary budget by Finance Minister Lindner (FDP). The Union considers the procedure to be unconstitutional and wants to sue.
Update from January 27, 8:50 p.m.: Success for Christian Lindner (FDP). On Thursday evening, the Bundestag passed the finance minister’s controversial supplementary budget for 2021. This gives the federal government billions of leeway for investments in climate protection and digitization. As a result, unused loans amounting to 60 billion euros will be set aside in a special fund so that they do not expire but can be used in the coming years.
This money, which was originally intended to be used to deal with the Corona crisis, is then to be invested in climate protection and transformation. Criticism of the measures came in advance from the Union, which viewed the supplementary budget as unconstitutional and had initiated a lawsuit. Lindner himself wrote on Twitter before the vote: “We are committed to a plannable investment path in the future within the framework of the Basic Law.”
Bundestag: Traffic light parties defend supplementary budget – Union prepares lawsuit
Update from January 27, 4:15 p.m.: The government factions of the SPD, Greens and FDP have the planned supplementary budget with a billion-shift in the Bundestag (see first report) defended. “We want to exit this pandemic sustainably. We want to prevent a long Covid for the German economy,” said SPD housekeeper Dennis Rohde on Thursday before the vote. Because of the corona pandemic, many investments that are important for the transformation of the economy have been postponed. These investments should now be made up for with the unused loans.
The Union has meanwhile initiated its lawsuit against the supplementary budget. CSU regional group chief Alexander Dobrindt signed a power of attorney for a norm control lawsuit on Thursday afternoon. In order for a law firm to be able to file a lawsuit, powers of attorney from almost all Union MPs are required. “The constitutional court will deal with it and we assume that it will then possibly declare this budget unconstitutional as part of an injunction,” said Dobrindt.
Officially, the lawsuit can only be filed once the Bundestag and Bundesrat have passed the supplementary budget and it has been published in the Federal Law Gazette.
Bundestag: Will Lindner get through with these plans? Union specifies countermeasure
First report from January 27th: Berlin – This Thursday (January 27) the supplementary budget will be explosive again. The chairman of the budget committee in the Bundestag, Helge Braun (CDU*), already accused the traffic light coalition of dubious financing of expenditure on the fight against climate change. With the proposed supplementary budget, the government is “putting the ax on the debt brake,” he said on Thursday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. “And that’s a big burden for future generations. We have to be sustainable, also when it comes to finances.”
The second supplementary budget for 2021 is to be passed in the Bundestag on Thursday. The debate is scheduled for 3 p.m. The supplementary budget provides for the energy and climate fund (EKF) to be increased by 60 billion euros in order to have funds available for climate change in the coming years. Unneeded credit authorizations from last year’s budget will be used for this purpose. They were actually intended to combat the economic consequences of the corona pandemic.
Supplementary budget: vote in the Bundestag – CDU and CSU specify lawsuit plans
Braun reiterated that the Union faction considers the project of Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP*) to be unconstitutional and will sue before the Federal Constitutional Court. “The debt brake does not provide for using this crisis mode for natural disasters to solve economic problems.”
Union parliamentary group leader Mathias Middelberg (CDU) has now specified the plans for a constitutional lawsuit. “Immediately after the publication of the law, we will file the lawsuit with the Federal Constitutional Court,” he said New Osnabrück newspaper (NOZ). “Alongside, we will institute summary proceedings to prevent Traffic Light from spending on the basis of this unconstitutional budget.”
Lindner defends the procedure for the supplementary budget – the Union considers it unconstitutional
The Union faction considers the procedure to be unconstitutional because the credit authorizations were only granted because of the corona pandemic *. On the other hand, Lindner argues that the 60 billion euros should enable additional investments in climate protection and the energy transition – a lot has been left undone here because of the pandemic. Therefore, a “catch-up process” must now be initiated for investments.
Lindner’s reasoning was described by Middelberg in the NOZ as “misleading”. Investments, for example in energy efficiency in the building sector, “went 100 percent into the construction industry. But construction is really the industry that did not experience any economic downturn at all during the pandemic, ”said the CDU politician. (dpa/AFP/cibo) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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