99,999,691,000 euros
The Bundeswehr’s special assets are probably completely planned
April 9, 2024, 6:02 p.m
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Frigates, aircraft, armored personnel carriers – the Bundeswehr has budgeted its special assets. It is therefore clear that from 2028 onwards, defense spending will have to come solely from the regular budget. In order to meet NATO requirements, a double-digit billion sum must be raised.
Politicians from Ampel and Union have been saying for days that the special funds for the Bundeswehr will be used up in a good three and a half years – i.e. by the end of 2027. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” now gives concrete figures on the planning status. According to this, 99,999,691,000 euros are currently planned. Conversely, this means: of the original 100 billion euros, there are still 309,000 euros left. According to the Ministry of Defense, the money will be used, among other things, for new armored personnel carriers, frigates, etc boats and state-of-the-art F-35A multi-role combat aircraft are being financed. In addition, Germany has been able to meet NATO’s two percent defense spending target for years. The debate has long since begun as to how the defense budget can meet the voluntary commitment from 2028 onwards.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius recently spoke out in favor of an exception to the debt brake. The SPD politician said on ZDF that he saw no possibility of covering the Bundeswehr’s financial needs through austerity measures elsewhere alone. It’s about amounts that “cannot be cut out of the flesh,” said the SPD politician. One should therefore think about creating an exception for security in the broadest sense – that is, in addition to national defense, also for civil defense and disaster control.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz made it known that he saw no room for new special funds. These would also need the consent of the Union and its parliamentary director Torsten Frei said that he could not currently imagine agreeing to new special funds.
Lindner attracts with spending discipline
The FDP immediately objected to the plans of department head Pistorius. Parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr is in favor of solid financing for the Bundeswehr. But “that has to happen from the federal government’s core budget,” he said. He referred to the plans of Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who wants to further reduce the federal government’s debt ratio and thus reduce the interest burden in the federal budget. “Then we will reap a solidity dividend,” said Dürr. When the traffic light took office, the debt ratio was still at 70 percent of economic output; it is currently below 65 percent and should be further reduced to below 60 percent by 2028, explained Dürr.
Lindner recently identified scope of up to nine billion euros in the federal budget from 2028 to increase the defense budget. If the debt ratio falls back below the 60 percent of economic output required by the EU, “the repayment of the Corona debt planned from 2028 could be discussed again”. According to Lindner, an additional nine billion euros could be gained through spending discipline and stretching repayment plans. The money could instead flow into the defense budget. Those close to the Ministry of Finance say that an additional 25 billion euros would have to be raised for the two percent target.
Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge said that the issue of security is not just about the defense budget. Investments must also be made in cybersecurity, a functioning and secure infrastructure and strengthening economic resilience. “The best solution is therefore to modernize the debt brake, which enables appropriate investments instead of slowing them down.”