Left-wing Social Democrats have submitted a member request to the party executive committee that opposes cuts in the social sector, among other things, in the ongoing negotiations for the 2025 federal budget. The proposed resolution, supported by the “Forum DL21”, for example, has been made available to the German Press Agency. “Spiegel” was the first to report on it. The party leadership views this critically in some quarters.
For the areas of social affairs, health, youth, family, education, democracy and development cooperation, the paper states: “The departmental approaches of the ministries concerned must not be cut compared to the previous year’s budget. Instead, we need growth in these areas as well as significantly more investment in affordable housing, sustainable infrastructure, strong municipalities and ambitious climate protection.”
The justification for the proposal is entitled “Don’t cut our democracy, invest in our future!”: “An austerity budget would be a ghost ride in economic, ecological and democratic terms.” The paper concludes with the appeal: “The party calls on the members of the SPD parliamentary group to only agree to a federal budget under these conditions.”
The Jusos also support the proposal: “The Juso Federal Executive Board supports the goal of the DL21 of a membership request among SPD members for a strong investment budget and the prevention of an austerity budget as desired by the FDP,” said a spokesman for the party’s youth wing.
If successful, such a member request could limit the room for maneuver of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the negotiations with Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens).
According to the “Forum DL21”, the support of one percent of SPD members from at least ten sub-districts in at least three federal states is required to initiate the request. This currently amounts to almost 4,000 members who would have to declare their support online within a month.
The request will therefore come into effect if 20 percent of the members, i.e. around 76,000, support it within three months. The party executive must then declare whether it will grant the request – otherwise a member decision will be made.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) is critical of the plan. “A federal budget like this is more than complex and completely unsuitable for a member survey,” he told “Welt am Sonntag”.
The dispute over savings in the 2025 budget is currently paralyzing the traffic light coalition and repeatedly raising questions about the continued existence of the three-party coalition. Various departments do not want to comply with Lindner’s savings targets. However, the finance minister insists that the debt brake anchored in the constitution is adhered to. This only allows for new debt to a limited extent. He argues that the investment needs up to 2030 and beyond can be covered by the regular budget. However, this requires that expenditure be reallocated and priorities shifted. He cites the social budget as an example.