Shortly before the traffic light government’s aim to reach an agreement on the 2025 federal budget, several wings of the SPD parliamentary group are jointly calling for a suspension of the debt brake in view of the expenditure on Ukraine and the recent flood damage. “The dogma of the black zero means stagnation and economic irrationality,” the Seeheimer Circle, the Parliamentary Left (PL) and the Berlin Network told the Reuters news agency.
“In view of the exceptional emergency situations in Ukraine and the German flood areas, we should use the exemption from the debt brake again this year,” demand Dorothee Martin (Berlin Network), Matthias Miersch (PL) and Dirk Wiese (Seeheimer Circle). The weak economy also requires a reform of the economic component in the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law so that the economy is not “deprived of the air to breathe”.
In Germany, according to the debt brake, the federal government is only allowed to take on new debt amounting to 0.35 percent of economic output. The traffic light government made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP actually wanted to agree on a draft for the 2025 federal budget by July 3, which would then have to be discussed and approved in the Bundestag. However, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only spoke on Sunday of an agreement in July.
In view of Scholz’s poor poll ratings, the three parliamentary groups also stressed that they wanted to support the Chancellor in the traffic light government. “Germany and Europe now need leadership and state responsibility in order to master the major challenges,” demand Martin, Miersch and Wiese. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has so far categorically rejected exceptions to the debt rule and insists on closing the gaps in the 2025 budget by cutting departmental budgets.
The trio stressed that they were not alone in calling for an exception to the debt brake. Trade unions and industry were also calling for special investments in Germany’s competitiveness. They were fighting for companies and employees “so that Germany can continue to guarantee economic success, active climate protection and social cohesion in the future.” The three SPD groups warned that cuts in social spending would jeopardize public support for the necessary aid to Ukraine. They reiterated that the Chancellor’s party wanted to place greater focus on the “working middle class” in politics. That is why “decent wages, affordable rents and stable pensions” are important.
Before the start of the decisive phase in the budget discussions of the traffic light coalition, the dispute that has been going on for months is becoming even more acute. A group of 30 young FDP members of parliament openly threatened to break up the coalition on Monday. “It must be clear to everyone: without a debt brake, without us,” said the chairman of the Young Group in the FDP parliamentary group, Jens Teutrine, to the “Bild” newspaper. The SPD, however, is undeterred in its calls for a suspension of the debt brake.
The debt brake also serves as an “educational measure for those politicians who lack respect for working taxpayers and who want to spend endless taxpayers’ money on credit,” said Teutrine.
FDP parliamentary manager Johannes Vogel also defended himself against criticism of the debt brake. “All parties must be clear that it is not unreasonable for a government to present a budget that complies with the constitution,” he told “Spiegel”. The Young Group, with 30 members, makes up almost a third of the FDP parliamentary group.
The FDP parliamentarians received support for their initiative from party leader and finance minister Christian Lindner and general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai. “The FDP’s Young Group is absolutely right: we have to invest, we have to do more for education – but by setting priorities, not through debt, because that would burden young people,” Lindner told the WELT TV channel. “I think it’s good that the young MPs are positioning themselves in this way,” said Djir-Sarai at a press conference.