Decision “very soon”
Green Party leader: Budget not an issue in the cabinet
December 6, 2023, 9:28 a.m
It is eagerly awaited whether a compromise by the traffic light leaders on the budget crisis will also be discussed at the cabinet meeting. Green Party leader Lang is now clearing up the issue in an interview, but is hopeful that a decision will be made soon.
There is still no agreement in the struggle over the 2024 federal budget. The budget will not be discussed in the federal cabinet this Wednesday, said Green Party leader Ricarda Lang on the Bayern 2 broadcaster. However, she expects a decision to be made “very, very soon”. The traffic light coalition will have to find a compromise, emphasized Lang. It’s about preventing a “state crisis” and showing: “We can do this together and stick together as a government.”
The Green Party leader emphasized: “Right now it’s not about who can say in the end, that’s a green dot, that’s a yellow dot or a red dot.” It is important that things are fair. Lang sharply attacked Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz, who primarily wants to cut citizens’ benefits and basic child welfare. Anyone who “protects the richest people” in such a crisis is “dividing this country.”
For days, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Economics Minister Robert Habeck have been trying to agree on a framework for the 2024 budget in confidential discussions. Lindner put the deficit at 17 billion euros.
The highest German court had declared the reallocation of 60 billion euros to be null and void. The money was approved as a Corona loan, but was later used for investments in climate protection and the modernization of the economy. The judges also decided that the federal government may not set aside loans approved in emergency situations for later years.