Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the restructuring of loans amounting to 60 billion euros invalid. These were approved to deal with the Corona crisis, but they are not needed and should instead be used for climate protection and modernization of the economy. There are now billions of rupees not available in the so-called climate and change fund. The federal government then temporarily halted some projects that were to be financed from the fund.
Coalition members of government parties have been struggling for days over how to appropriately deal with the Supreme Court decision. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD has reiterated its demand to suspend the debt brake to plug a €60 billion fiscal hole. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habach (Greens) is also not a fan of the debt break, but he doesn’t see a majority in favor of a change.
According to media reports, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has extended the budget freeze imposed on the Climate and Change Fund to almost the entire federal budget. This comes from a letter from Budget State Secretary Werner Gatzer. This essentially means that a budget freeze has been placed on all ministries. Departments are still allowed to complete approved projects, but are no longer allowed to spend a single new penny.
Today, on Tuesday, experts are to help the Bundestag and the Federal Government correctly assess the consequences of the Karlsruhe budget decision. It should be clarified whether the budget for 2024 can be fixed despite the decision.
