Growth Opportunities Act: Ampel accuses the Union of “high

Enlarge image

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's head of government Manuela Schwesig (SPD): "Tactical games"

Photo: Felix Zahn / photothek / IMAGO

The dispute over the Growth Opportunities Act is entering the next round.

The Bundestag's Mediation Committee passed the law with a majority of the traffic light parties - but the Union continues to threaten to prevent the funding law in the Bundesrat.

Now leaders from the SPD and FDP are attacking the Union for its blockade.

Jochen Ott, leader of the SPD parliamentary group in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament, accuses the CDU and CSU of "a cheap blockade of stubbornness, unreasonableness and pure populism."

The Union wants to continue surfing the “agricultural diesel protest wave”, which is a conscious acceptance of a weakening of Germany’s business location.

The CDU is thus wasting opportunities for more growth and strengthening of the research location - "and this particularly affects North Rhine-Westphalia as an industrial and scientific state," says Ott.

"The medium-sized businesses in the energy sector in particular no longer have any understanding for this form of destructive prevention policy." Ott calls on CDU Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst to ensure an end to the blockade within his own ranks.

“With their high-handed blockade stance, the CDU and CSU are promoting the loss of prosperity throughout Germany,” said the deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Christoph Meyer, to the AFP news agency.

"We appeal to the Union to rethink and approve the law for the good of the country."

Dispute over “tactical games”

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's head of government Manuela Schwesig (SPD) also only shakes her head at the Union's blockade.

The CDU and CSU would link their approval to a withdrawal of the planned abolition of agricultural diesel subsidies for farmers, said the Prime Minister on Thursday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”.

However, agricultural diesel has “nothing at all to do” with the Growth Opportunities Act.

“The Union knows this – and it surprises me very much.”

Schwesig is the current chairwoman of the Mediation Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat.

Yesterday evening there was no agreement between the traffic light parties and the Union on the Growth Opportunities Act.

The Union only wants to agree to the proposal if the federal government reverses the gradual elimination of agricultural diesel subsidies for farmers.

“The Union puts diesel subsidies for farmers above the needs of the entire economy,” criticized FDP budget expert Meyer.

The MP criticized the CDU and CSU for exploiting the farmers for their own purposes.

Schwesig spoke of “tactical games.”

The Union itself has so far prevented the law on agricultural diesel from even reaching the Federal Council.

That is why the Mediation Committee cannot deal with it at all.

In addition, there is actually “an agreement” on the Growth Opportunities Act.

It is a “good law”.

It doesn't solve all the problems, but it is an "important signal."

The so-called Growth Opportunities Act provides for a series of reliefs for companies amounting to around three billion euros per year.

The Mediation Committee was presented with a slimmed-down version: relief of almost seven billion euros was originally planned.

This addresses the concerns of the states: They had complained that the law was leaving too big holes in their budgets and those of the municipalities.

mrc/cte/AFP