Budget Plan for 2025 Under Scrutiny: Opposition Alleges Deception by Government Coalition

The 2025 federal budget has become a contentious issue in the German parliament, with the opposition parties, including the Left, AfD, and Greens, accusing the black-red coalition of trickery and obfuscation. The budget, which is now in the Household Committee, has been described as a "financial labyrinth" and "wild growth" by opposition finance experts.

The Left's finance expert has raised concerns about the budget's lack of transparency, a sentiment echoed by Green parliamentary group leader Schäfer, who criticised the federal government for using opportunities offered by the special fund inappropriately. An example given was the shifting of funds for rail from the core budget to the special fund.

The AfD parliamentary group leader, Espendiller, has proposed potential savings of 14 billion euros annually in the citizen's allowance, a reduction of 18 billion euros in payments to the EU, and the complete stop of military aid to Ukraine, as a means to address the 143 billion euros in new debt from the core budget and special assets.

The new debt in the core budget is planned to be 81.8 billion euros as intended, but this figure increases to around 102 billion euros when including the 60 billion euros in new debt in the special funds for defence and infrastructure.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has justified the planned new debt, but the opposition parties remain unconvinced. The Left and the AfD have announced their rejection of the 2025 budget, while the Greens have expressed concerns about the budget not providing the necessary impulses in the deep structural crisis.

The final debate on the 2025 budget law is scheduled to take place in the Bundestag in the week starting September 15, with a vote planned for September 19. The budget debate has been significantly delayed due to the federal election in February and the change of government in May.

So far this year, the so-called provisional budget management is in effect. The heads of the opposition parties have accused the federal government of concealing the true level of debt, a claim the government has yet to address publicly.

The budget process for 2025 has been described as "probably the longest budget process in the history of our country" by Green parliamentary group leader Schäfer. The AfD submitted around 1,000 amendments in the budget committee, but they were all rejected.

Despite the opposition's rejection of the budget, the final deliberations on the 2025 federal budget ended on Thursday evening in an approximately eleven-hour reconciliation meeting of the Household Committee. The outcome of the final vote remains to be seen.

Budget Plan for 2025 Under Scrutiny: Opposition Alleges Deception by Government Coalition