Emergency because of the war in Ukraine?
Klingbeil expects the budget crisis to be resolved soon
December 7, 2023, 5:32 a.m
The Chancellor and two of his ministers are struggling to find a way out of the budget dilemma. Whether and when they will reach an agreement is anyone’s guess – but time is running out. SPD leader Klingbeil is confident that it will work before the New Year.
The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil expects a “political clarification” of the budget crisis this year. Even though it is currently Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner who are currently negotiating a solution: “In the end it is clear that the three cannot decide that, but that the parties and the parliamentary groups have to decide together with the government. That’s why At the end comes the coalition committee,” emphasized Klingbeil on the ARD program “maischberger”.
“This is currently the biggest domestic political crisis that this traffic light has to deal with,” said the SPD leader. Klingbeil mentioned the renewed declaration of an emergency because of the war in Ukraine as a possible way to prepare the budget for the coming year after the Karlsruhe ruling: “We are not in a normal situation when it comes to the situation in Ukraine. I want that support continues. And this is a point where we as the SPD say we can imagine resolving this situation.”
One thing is clear: nothing happens over Christmas
The SPD budget politician Andreas Schwarz told the Bavarian media group newspapers that he personally believes “that it boils down to a provisional budget.” This means that the budget will not be decided until the new year – then a provisional budget would initially apply at the beginning of January, and only necessary expenses would be permitted. “All I know is that there will be calm between December 24th and 26th. How things will continue is still open,” said Schwarz. He criticized the appearance of the traffic light coalition. “That’s our big problem, there’s a lot of room for improvement – including with the Chancellor.”
The prerequisite for all further steps is a fundamental political agreement. And time is running out for that too. Because the calendars of the Chancellor and the ministers are full – even if Habeck decided not to travel to the World Climate Conference in Dubai planned for this week. Lindner is expected to attend the meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels today. Starting tomorrow, the SPD will meet for its three-day federal party conference – Scholz is scheduled to speak there on Saturday.
The pressure arose from the Karlsruhe budget ruling. The highest German court declared a budget reshuffle to be null and void. This means that not only 60 billion euros are missing, which were planned over four years for climate protection projects and the modernization of the economy. The judge’s ruling also had an impact on various loan-financed special funds, because it is now clear that the federal government is not allowed to set aside emergency loans for later years. There is therefore a gap of 17 billion euros in the budget for next year.