For spending requests
Lindner gives ministries more time for savings plans
April 11, 2024, 3:37 p.m
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The ministries were originally supposed to present their savings proposals for 2025 by April 19th. The Greens in particular still need advice. Finance Minister Lindner is now extending the deadline for his cabinet colleagues by two weeks. Nevertheless, the negotiations remain tough.
The traffic light coalition’s budget preparation, which will probably be very difficult again, is starting with delays. The FDP-led Federal Ministry of Finance reported that the individual ministries would have almost two weeks more time to register their spending requests. There is still a significant need for internal consultation in the ministries.
“It was particularly the wish of the Green departments to postpone the time for reporting back to the Ministry of Finance, as for organizational reasons they cannot meet for an internal meeting until the end of April.” The Ministry of Finance complied with this request after consultation with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). The new deadline is now May 2nd.
Actually, the individual ministries should have outlined their spending wishes and also made savings suggestions by April 19th. There will then be further political discussions in the traffic light government until the cabinet approves the draft budget for 2025 on July 3rd. The Bundestag should then discuss the draft from September and pass it by the end of November 2024.
Gap in the double-digit billions
Extremely tough negotiations are expected in the coalition because more money is supposed to be put into defense and is then missing elsewhere. In addition, the government continues to struggle with the consequences of the Constitutional Court ruling at the end of 2023, which removed 60 billion euros from the KTF climate fund.
Some in the coalition expect that the cabinet decision will not be adhered to before the parliamentary summer break. If an agreement is not achieved, this will also be seen as a major problem within the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP.
It was said that the traffic light must demonstrate the ability to act, especially with a view to the state elections coming up in East Germany in the second half of the year. Finance Minister Christian Lindner had already refrained from drawing up key points for the 2025 budget because the positions in the government are very far apart.