Green Party politician Sven-Christian Kindler
Photo: Michael Kappeler/ dpa
Finance Minister Christian Lindner's (FDP) austerity targets for the budgets of the federal ministries in the 2024 budget are meeting with resistance from the Green coalition partner. "In the end, a federal budget needs the approval of the entire cabinet," said the Greens' chief budgeter Sven-Christian Kindler of the newspaper "Rheinische Post". What is needed now is a joint substantive coordination process on the federal budget, which can be approved by all three coalition partners."
Lindner had set spending limits for the individual federal ministries and called on them to submit proposals for savings; only the Ministry of Defense had been exempted from it. According to Kindler, the Greens do not want to accept this procedure. "It doesn't make sense to exclude the defense portfolio across the board," he said. "There are demonstrably considerable inefficiencies in procurement for the Bundeswehr that have not yet been eliminated." Kindler criticized: "Too much money seeps away again and again."
Greens want other priorities
In addition, the majority of the 100 billion euros in the Bundeswehr special fund have not yet been firmly planned. "We should not cut at the expense of programs for the participation of children and young people, for rural development, for culture or for initiatives against right-wing extremism," demanded the budget spokesman of the Green parliamentary group. Anyone who cuts back here "weakens our democracy and cohesion in our society in these times of crisis," he warned.
Instead, Kindler called for cuts in environmentally harmful subsidies and cited the tax privilege of company cars. When it comes to reducing subsidies that are harmful to the environment and the climate, "large sums of money can be raised".
The budget for next year has been causing unrest in the coalition for months. Several ministries reported additional demands, some of which were high. However, since Lindner rules out both a renewed exemption from the debt brake and tax increases, there is practically no room for manoeuvre. The budget is to be adopted by the cabinet before the summer break, but Lindner has not yet given an exact date for this.
beb/AFP