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CSU boss Markus Söder has been critical of the initiative by Chancellor Helge Braun (CDU) to suspend the debt brake.

"We are very skeptical about a permanent suspension of the debt brake," said Söder WELT.

"That would be the wrong signal." Germany could not solve the economic consequences of the corona pandemic in the long term with higher debts or high taxes.

Rather, the country needs a coherent economic policy concept: "Germany stands for financial integrity, and we should stick to that."

Chancellery chief Helge Braun had previously proposed to suspend the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law for the coming years and called for a corresponding change in the Basic Law.

"The debt brake cannot be adhered to in the coming years, even with otherwise strict spending discipline," writes the CDU politician in a guest article in the "Handelsblatt".

"That is why it makes sense to combine a recovery strategy for the economy in Germany with an amendment to the Basic Law, which provides a reliable degressive corridor for new borrowing in the coming years and a clear date for the return to compliance with the debt rule."

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So far, the Union has rejected demands from the SPD and the Greens, for example, to shake the debt brake.

CDU and CSU politicians had called for a return to the debt brake or even a balanced budget as early as 2022.

Due to the massive increase in new debt in the Corona crisis, the Bundestag has again suspended the debt brake for 2021.

Braun argues that exactly this annual decision is dangerous for budget discipline.

“This deviation from the debt rule should under no circumstances be legitimized in the coming years by annual individual decisions under Article 115 of the Basic Law.

That opens the door to the permanent relaxation of the debt rule, ”writes the CDU politician.

It remains completely unclear how long the pandemic could be "a reasoning circumstance" for the suspension.

This means that there is no mechanism “that will reliably pave the way for a return to the debt rule and, in the medium term, also to the federal government's 'black zero' new debt”.

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Braun emphasized that he sees the debt brake in itself as very important.

“In this crisis in particular, it has proven its worth because it laid the foundation for Germany to be financially capable of acting in the pandemic,” he writes.

"It is also important because of our role model function in Europe so that our common currency maintains its stability by returning to the Maastricht criteria."

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The background to this is the concern that other euro countries could become too indebted and thereby jeopardize the stability of the common currency.

Greens demand courage for "real reform"

For the Greens, Braun's proposal to suspend the debt brake for the coming years does not go far enough.

“The ideological front in the Union is crumbling.

That's good, ”said the budget spokesman for the Green Group, Sven-Christian Kindler, to the Reuters news agency.

"It is right not to jeopardize the economic recovery from 2022 by returning to the restrictive debt brake." However, one should not just tinker with the symptoms for the next few years.

"You should have the courage to really reform the debt brake," said Kindler.

This must make it possible for net investments to be financed through loans.

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The Greens have long been calling for a reform of the debt brake, with which the federal government's new debt is limited to 0.35 percent of the gross domestic product.

You combine that with the proposal of a new investment rule that would allow debt-financed investments.

"In view of the historically low interest rates and the investment backlog, the climate crisis and digitization, the state will have to invest significantly more in the coming years and decades," said Kindler.

This attacked finance minister and SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz.

“The debate is here now, but where is Finance Minister Olaf Scholz?” Said Kindler.

“The Federal Minister of Finance must not hide in this debate.

Kipping: "Not yet the necessary farewell to the investment brake"

The chairman of the Left Party, Katja Kipping, criticized Braun's initiative as insufficient.

“The debt brake is one thing above all: an investment brake and thus economically counterproductive.

It should be disposed of, ”said Kipping WELT.

"What the head of the Chancellery is proposing is a bit better than the Union's previous debt brake fetishism, but it is far from the necessary farewell to the investment brake."

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