Before the budget discussions in the Bundestag next week, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz accused the traffic light coalition of pursuing an unprofessional budget policy. The opposition leader particularly criticized the global spending cuts of 12 billion euros included in the 2025 budget – an amount that is not yet covered by revenue. “That is the largest number ever written into a draft budget. That is simply no longer serious,” Merz told the German Press Agency in Berlin.
“This is an attempt to cheat the budget figures, somehow cobble together a budget and then get it through parliament.” He is curious to see whether the MPs from the traffic light factions will go along with this. “This will trigger lengthy discussions in the budget committee,” Merz predicted.
Household and restaurant bill
“It seems to me like someone who goes to a restaurant with his family, knows that he cannot pay the bill, and hopes that the restaurant owner will lower the prices during the course of the evening. This hope is unlikely to come true given the scale of the global spending cuts,” said Merz.
Draft budget with expenditure of 480 billion euros
After the summer break, the Bundestag will resume its work in the new week with the traditional budget week. On Tuesday, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) will introduce the 2025 budget law, which was only passed with great difficulty and much controversy, into parliament. The draft budget provides for expenditure of more than 480 billion euros. Of this, around 44 billion euros are to be financed through new debt.
Global underspending reaches enormous levels
It is quite normal for a government to work with global underspending in its budget. It assumes that this sum will be saved by all departments together (hence globally) because the ministries will not spend the full amount they have allocated over the course of the financial year. What is absolutely unusual, however, is the high sum of 12 billion euros that is to be raised in this way. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, this is the largest funding gap in a government draft for the federal budget in the past twenty years.
Criticism of further budget details
Merz also accused the federal government of irresponsibly entering into commitment authorizations – “in other words, legally binding commitments to budget expenditure for the years from 2026 onwards, which later budget legislators are already binding on today.” This, too, has never happened on this scale before. “And that is basically the real perfidy of this budget. The government is already throwing the biggest problems at the feet of the next government.”
Ruling from Karlsruhe may pose new risk
The opposition leader does not rule out that the Federal Constitutional Court will once again pose a budget risk for the traffic light coalition – as it did with the 2023 budget ruling. “It is possible that we will see a similarly shocking event from Karlsruhe this year as last year – that is the lawsuit filed by FDP MPs against the solidarity tax,” said Merz. “The matter is pending a decision. If the federal government then has to miss another 12 to 13 billion euros annually, it will be very difficult.”
Since 2021, only high earners and companies have to pay the solidarity surcharge. It has long been a thorn in the side of the FDP. They want to see it abolished altogether. Several FDP members of the Bundestag marched against the solidarity surcharge in Karlsruhe when the Liberals were not yet in government. However, Federal Finance Minister Lindner has firmly budgeted solidarity surcharge revenues of 12.75 billion euros for the coming year.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240908-930-226271/1
This is a message directly from the dpa news channel.
