SPD leader in the “ntv early start”
Klingbeil is putting pressure on the 2024 budget until Christmas
November 29, 2023, 11:38 a.m
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The federal government is facing a huge challenge and an enormous test, says SPD leader Klingbeil. Consultations on the 2024 budget are already in full swing. By Christmas everyone should know what will happen next year.
The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil expects tough negotiations within the coalition about the 2024 budget. This is a difficult balance, but citizens and companies need clarity about how investments in climate protection and in the economic performance of this country will continue said Klingbeil in ntv’s “Early Start”.
The first corridors of solutions could already become apparent at this evening’s coalition meeting in the Chancellery, said Klingbeil. But there is still a lot of work to be done in the government in the next few days. “We have to do this thoroughly.” However, the 2024 budget is to be approved by the Bundestag this year: “We want the budget to be passed in 2023 and then everyone will know at Christmas what it will look like next year.”
The federal government’s original budget planning was over with the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court on November 15th. The Karlsruhe judges decided that 60 billion euros from the climate and transformation fund should not have been reallocated. The money was originally intended for the economic consequences of the corona crisis. 16 to 20 billion euros must be saved for the next budget.
Klingbeil rejected social cuts in order to save money on the budget. “Many people are now coming around the corner who have always had a problem with the welfare state and are now trying to use this crisis to launch attacks.” The SPD leader wants to continue to enable investments in climate neutrality and in strengthening the welfare state. “We won’t allow this to stop, or to be broken off. And if we move in this corridor, then we will definitely find a solution from the SPD too.”
The coalition has already decided to suspend the debt brake for the current year, but the FDP refuses to declare an emergency situation for next year in order to increase the debt scope due to the crisis. Klingbeil sees the last word not yet spoken here. “By the way, I’m not taking the point of suspending the debt brake off the table.” There are currently “an incredible number of challenges”. There are therefore “reasons to suspend the debt brake for 2024 as well”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already made a similar argument in the Bundestag on Tuesday – without explicitly calling for the debt brake to be suspended.
With a view to the demands of the FDP, Klingbeil said that they would also talk about prioritization and see where climate-damaging subsidies in particular could be reduced. “But we certainly won’t ax investment or the welfare state.” Every minister must now look at where savings can be made in their own department. “It’s going to be a busy few weeks leading up to Christmas.”
According to his own statement, Klingbeil does not expect any support from CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who violently attacked Scholz in the Bundestag on Tuesday. However, the SPD leader pointed out that there were also other positions in the Union. Like the SPD, Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner is promoting a reform of the debt brake. “So, this fundamental opposition from Friedrich Merz, who just wants to watch as the government tries to find the best way forward and completely shirks responsibility. Thank God there are other voices in the Union.”
In the Bundestag debate, Merz called the Chancellor a “plumber of power,” apparently alluding to the “physicist of power” that Merkel had occasionally been referred to as. “First of all, I think that the plumbing profession is one that I have a lot of respect for,” commented Klingbeil. “These are people who have incredibly good training. They know exactly what they’re doing.”