The CDU party conference’s decision to reject further loosening of the debt brake has met sharp opposition from its coalition partner, the SPD.
In a statement to “Tagesspiegel”, SPD Bundestag member Ralf Stegner said the coalition agreement calls for a “fundamental modernization of the debt brake” so that it does not become a “future brake”. He added, “Those who can read the agreement understand the advantage” referring to the black‑red coalition pact. Stegner urged the CDU to honor the pact, citing the maxim “pacta sunt servanda” and arguing that a social democrat should not have to remind the CDU and its junior partner the Junge Union of this conservative virtue.
The former SPD deputy-who echoed Stegner’s points-contended that the coalition agreement does not aim to tighten the debt rule in the Basic Law nor to roll back the decisions made by this coalition that allowed a large investment package.
On the CDU side, Gitta Connemann, chair of the Mittelstandsvereinigung der CDU und CSU (MIT), said that with the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality the coalition has created new fiscal space. “Now we must put priority on expenditures” she said, clarifying that she will not expand beyond the already approved opening of the debt rule. Connemann welcomed her party’s decision and reminded that the debt brake is not an end in itself but a promise to future generations, ensuring that children of tomorrow have room to shape the future-not just bear interest burdens. She called for restraint with what she described as “uncovered checks”.