When the coalition agreement was signed in 2021, no one suspected the impending energy crisis. In view of this, the SPD is now calling for new negotiations, for example on further lifting the debt brake. Another point of contention emerges.
In view of the current crises in the traffic light coalition, the SPD is pushing for new budgetary agreements and, above all, is demanding a change of course from the FDP. If you talk about further relief and the extension of existing relief measures, it boils down to this question: "What is the fiscal policy, what is the budgetary policy leeway of this federal government?" said SPD Secretary General Kevin Kühnert on ntv.
"To be honest, that's also a bit of the question that we all have to ask Christian Lindner and his FDP, whether they'll stick to the fact that budgetary decisions from before the crisis should also get us through the crisis, or whether we shouldn't consult together and have to come to new agreements," said Kühnert. He asks the FDP to take a realistic look at the situation. "It no longer has much to do with what we agreed in the coalition agreement in December 2021."
SPD leader Saskia Esken had previously specifically spoken out in favor of not applying the debt brake requirements in the coming year either. "I think we have to suspend the debt brake again," she said in ZDF's "Summer Interview". In view of the current crises, the federal government must "organize long-term relief," she said. The financial consequences of these crises are not yet foreseeable.
The SPD is thus on a confrontational course with its coalition partner, the FDP, which is demanding a return to the debt brake for the coming year - the "traffic light" had also recorded this return in its coalition agreement. Federal Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner recently presented a draft budget for 2023 that is based on the rules of the debt brake. Esken said that the Bundestag must now clarify in the upcoming budget deliberations whether this is really feasible.
The debt brake laid down in the Basic Law states that the federal government may normally borrow up to a maximum of 0.35 percent of gross domestic product. In addition, deviations are permitted to a limited extent "in the event of an economic development that deviates from the normal situation". For the years 2020 to 2022, the Bundestag saw such an emergency and decided to exempt it from the debt brake - the corona pandemic was the focus twice, this year also the Ukraine war.
Regarding possible new relief for citizens, Kühnert said: "In the event of further relief, it is clear to us that in particular pensioners with small pensions, who will not be included in the previous energy flat rate, then have to be on board." So far, that has been a certain injustice.
In addition, Kühnert emphasized that the "common message" of the traffic light government must be that private households do not have to fear gas or electricity cuts in winter because of unpaid bills. "It cannot and must not be that next winter, due to the price development and the financial overstrain, someone sits in his apartment in the cold because he or she could no longer pay the bill," said the Secretary General.
According to Esken, middle and low-income recipients in particular need further support. The SPD chairwoman also spoke out in favor of suspending terminations by energy suppliers of customers who could not pay their energy bills - she considers such a moratorium to be "urgently necessary". To finance relief, "certainly a contribution from very high incomes" will be necessary, she added.
Originally, consumer protection minister Steffi Lemke from the Greens had suggested protecting citizens from power and gas cuts in the event of late payment in the event of a further escalation of the energy crisis. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann from the FDP recently rejected such a moratorium. Kühnert said that they wanted to talk to the coalition partner FDP about the "precise instruments" of a moratorium. "We are open to talks with the coalition partner."
