Enlarge image

Jürgen Trittin: No reason not to "pass the budget"

Photo: Melissa Erichsen / dpa

The Constitutional Court's ruling on the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) has plunged the traffic light parties into a serious crisis. Green Party veteran Jürgen Trittin, on the other hand, is emphatically relaxed. The former Federal Environment Minister told the Handelsblatt newspaper that the traffic light coalition had not taken the requirements of the debt brake seriously and tried to cheat its way past it. She was caught. "I, too, would have sued against this budget if I had been in the opposition," he said.

The ruling on the KTF is also not an obstacle to the adoption of the upcoming budget, he told the broadcaster n-tv . After all, the special fund in the KTF should be seen separately from the budget, said Trittin. "So there's no reason not to pass the budget." He also defended the current design of the budgets in comparison with the original draft by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). "He's sending better signals than before, and this budget will be passed." The KTF needs a correction, but this can also be done calmly after the budget has been adopted, said the foreign policy spokesman of the Green parliamentary group.

Trittin: Germany a tax haven for inheritances

Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court declared a transfer of loans of 60 billion euros from the 2021 budget to the KTF null and void. They had been approved to cope with the corona crisis, but were to be used for climate protection and the modernisation of the economy. Now the billions are not available – and the federal government is arguing about how it can close the gap and what consequences the ruling will have on other ancillary budgets.

Because of the ruling, Trittin also demanded the dismantling of environmentally harmful subsidies. The Greens are prepared to suspend the debt brake or raise taxes for necessary investments, he told the Handelsblatt. But this is not possible with the FDP and also not with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Specifically, Trittin mentioned the capping of the company car privilege. He has "a lot of sympathy" for the SPD's idea of introducing a kind of crisis solos for the super-rich. When it comes to taxing assets and, above all, inheritances, Germany is "like the Cayman Islands is a tax haven when it comes to income tax."

Apr