“A non-starter”
Union rejects SPD initiative for debt brake
January 11, 2024, 7:21 a.m
According to the SPD, it limits the state’s scope for action and is a risk to prosperity, which is why the party wants to reform the debt brake. The CDU rejects this. The Christian Democrats also take a stand when it comes to financing aid for the Ahr Valley flood victims.
The Union has clearly rejected the SPD parliamentary group’s proposal to reform the debt brake. “The SPD parliamentary group’s initiative is a fundamental attack on the debt brake,” said CDU budget politician Christian Haase to the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”. “The proposed reform of the debt brake will not happen with us. That’s why these SPD proposals are a complete failure.”
Several media outlets had previously reported on an internal template for the closed meeting of the SPD parliamentary group. The debt brake in its current form is “no longer up to date” and the current “rigid rules” are a “prosperity risk for current and future generations,” it says. Therefore, more scope should be created for investments. However, in order to change the Basic Law, the SPD needs a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat, which it cannot achieve without the Union.
Union does not participate in unconstitutional financing
In the “Rheinische Post” CDU politician Haase also rejected calls from the SPD and the Greens to suspend the debt brake in 2024 in order to be able to finance further aid for the flood victims in the Ahr Valley. “Nobody questions the help for the flood victims in the Ahr Valley, not even us,” said Haase. “The Union just doesn’t participate in financing that would be unconstitutional.”
“In our view, the suspension of the debt brake for the Ahrtal aid would be unconstitutional because the Ahrtal is not a new, unforeseen event and the burdens are not significant,” the Bundestag member continued. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner apparently also sees it that way.