Stirring Controversy Over Brandenburg's Coalition Government's Double Budget Procedure
Budget process doubts rejected by coalition - The Coalition dismisses concerns about their financial practices
The SPD/BSW coalition in Brandenburg finds itself embroiled in a debate with the CDU over the legitimacy of their double budget procedure. The crux of the issue lies in the participation of financial expert Christian Breuer and legal scholar Thorsten Ingo Schmidt, who served as experts in a hearing on the budget in the state parliament while simultaneously preparing opinions for the Ministry of Finance.
These experts, who were part of the scientific staff of the expert council of the federal government in the past, gave statements on the legally permissible amount of cyclical debt in April. The CDU, however, is criticizing this dual role, stating that it could lead to a veneer of arbitrariness. The majority of the budget committee rejected the CDU's demand for a new hearing procedure, with the AfD also expressing similar concerns.
CDU finance politician Steeven Bretz advocates for a renewed expert round, asserting that the experts chosen by the coalition have been consistently counseling the government. SPD MP Andreas Noack, on the other hand, downplays these concerns, stating that while there is indeed a dual role, he does not perceive any actual defects or procedural errors. He supports a renewed hearing of the municipal peak associations instead. BSW finance politician Christian Dorst views the CDU's criticism as a supposed deficiency.
The double budget for this and the following year is set to be finalized in June, with some cuts for municipalities and the Medical University of Brandenburg being rejected or mitigated. Additional funds have been planned for the police and hospitals.
Terms like "significant new debt" and "debt brake" make an appearance, as the coalition plans to assume additional debt in the billions for the budget given the cyclical revenue losses permitted by the Brandenburg constitution. The CDU criticizes the simultaneous withdrawal of cuts, citing higher than expected tax revenues.
The coalition also aims to make it feasible to take on more debt and change the budget rules by extending the comparison period for the business cycle to up to ten years. The advisory service of the Brandenburg state parliament considers these plans to be unconstitutional only if they lack justification or acceptance based on economic and financial science standards. Breuer and Schmidt concluded in their April hearing that the planned changes were acceptable, the finance minister considers the change legally permissible, and the two experts' expertise supports this position.
- CDU
- Budget
- SPD
- Double budget
- Robert Crumbach
- Potsdam
- BMF
- Federal government
- German Press Agency
[1] Brandenburg faces a potential debt surge of over EUR3 billion as part of the double budget, with the CDU expressing concerns about financial stability in the state.
- The CDU in Brandenburg has raised concerns about the financial stability of the state, warning of a potential debt surge of over EUR3 billion, due to the implementation of the double budget by the SPD/BSW coalition.
- The controversy over the double budget in Brandenburg has ventured into the realm of policy-and-legislation, with the CDU criticizing the dual role of experts who were part of the scientific staff of the expert council of the federal government, and the SPD downplaying these concerns, advocating instead for a renewed hearing of the municipal peak associations in Potsdam, under the guidance of the BMF and the federal government.
