During the debate over revising Germany’s debt‑breach rule, the CDU cautions against softening the existing regulation. “I do not want to enter an endless cycle of debt‑making with exploding interest costs and out‑of‑control state finances” said Christian Haase, the union bloc’s budget spokesperson, speaking to the “Rheinische Post” on Wednesday. He expressed support for a strict debt brake, calling the current rule an “effective model”. Haase argues that the problem is not the present debt‑breach framework itself but rather “rapidly rising expenditures” and he warns that most proponents of change would simply widen the margin for further borrowing. “They want more debt, not less. That is not my view” he added.
SPD politicians have long pressed for a debt‑breach reform. “We still expect the Union to uphold its commitments under the coalition agreement” said SPD general secretary Tim Klüssendorf in the “Rheinische Post”. “A renewed standstill on future investment would be very difficult for our country to bear”.