CDU-Braun: “Not to be complied with” due to the crisis – constitutional amendment would be necessary
The German Chancellery chief Helge Braun wants to suspend the debt brake anchored in the constitution for the coming years because of the corona crisis and thus shakes a taboo of the CDU / CSU. The CDU politician writes in a guest article in the “Handelsblatt” that a corresponding amendment to the constitution is necessary for this. “The debt brake cannot be adhered to in the coming years, even with otherwise strict spending discipline,” says the guest post.
“That is why it makes sense to combine a recovery strategy for the economy in Germany with an amendment to the Basic Law, which provides a reliable degressive corridor for new borrowing for the coming years, and a clear date for the return to compliance with the debt rule.”
So far, the Union has always rejected requests from the SPD and the Greens to shake the debt brake. Green leader Robert Habeck had called for a constitutional amendment and an investment clause to be added to the debt brake. SPD politicians like Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil had called for a reform or even a move away from the debt brake, which is too rigid in times of crisis. CDU and CSU politicians, on the other hand, had called for a return to the debt brake or even a balanced budget as early as 2022. Due to the massive increase in new debt in the Corona crisis, the Bundestag has again suspended the debt brake for 2021.
