display
Berlin (dpa) - With the SPD's demand for significant financial relief for low-wage earners and families in the Corona crisis, the first coalition committee began in the Berlin Chancellery in the super election year 2021.
It is about the people "who have to get by with a particularly tight budget in these times," said party leaders Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans on Wednesday immediately before the meeting of the leaders of the Union and SPD with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
The new CDU chairman Armin Laschet also took part in this for the first time.
"At this point, the coalition partner should not only look at those who have high incomes, but also at those who are really burdened at this time," emphasized Walter-Borjans.
It is not just about basic security recipients, but also families with small and average incomes.
Esken called on the CDU and CSU to take a look at the C in the party name - "and then we hope that the situation of families with particularly low incomes also plays a role".
display
On the table are calls for another child bonus similar to last year and for immediate Corona aid of 200 euros for low-wage earners and the long-term unemployed.
Among other things, the Union wants to achieve tax relief for burdened companies.
Companies with corona-related losses in 2020/2021 should be able to offset these against profits from 2019 and earlier.
Immediately before the meeting of the coalition committee, the SPD defended its last critical course against its government partner CDU / CSU.
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the suspicion that he was already campaigning with criticism of vaccination management and socio-political demands.
“Demanding something sensible for the citizens is not campaign music,” said the finance minister and SPD candidate for chancellor on Wednesday in the ARD “morning magazine”.
Things that are important also have to be discussed hard.
At the meeting, which was scheduled primarily on the initiative of the SPD, in addition to the social and economic cushioning of the consequences of the corona pandemic, the acquisition of the euro drone for the Bundeswehr should be discussed.
On the way to the Chancellery, Walter-Borjans emphasized that development and procurement would not fail because of the SPD.
"It will fail when it comes to the question of stipulating now that these drones should be armed."
display
The FDP called on the coalition to step up aid for companies.
"The corona aid for companies is still too little, too bureaucratic and too slow," said parliamentary group Vice Michael Theurer of the German press agency.
"Here there must be at least a massive expansion of the tax loss carry-back so that the tax offices can help the companies easily."
According to the FDP, it would be even better to orient the aid to the operating result.
"I expect the Union to prevail against its junior coalition partner SPD when it comes to carrying back losses," said FDP parliamentary group vice-Christian Dürr of the dpa.
The left called on the coalition leaders to talk about how the pandemic could be dealt with in a socially just manner.
"It cannot be that the social gap is growing and that low-income households are left behind even further by the crisis," said the First Parliamentary Managing Director Jan Korte.
"The next Corona summit has to be a social summit."
Walter-Borjans brought the suspension of the debt brake in the Basic Law into play for the 2022 budget.
"After Corona there must be no emergency braking that would either lead to social cutbacks or renouncement of urgently required future investments or even to both," he told the "Tagesspiegel" (Thursday).
"Then the crisis of a year or two would become the crisis of a whole generation."
Therefore, the right financial prerequisites are important: "As it currently looks, this will also justify an exception to the debt brake in 2022."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210203-99-292119 / 2