In the clash over the alleged misuse of infrastructure billions by the federal government, the SPD is now taking the Greens to task.
Dirk Wiese, the SPD’s first parliamentary manager in the Bundestag, accused the Greens in North Rhine‑Westphalia (NRW) of diverting investment money at the state level. He claims that, contrary to the Greens’ statements, the SPD has done nothing wrong at the federal level.
On the news programme “Welt TV” Wiese said: “I do not share the Greens’ criticism in any way. The additional measures are in place. We have adhered to the 10 % investment quota in the core budget-as legislated-and complied with it. Therefore the Greens should ask themselves why, in the states where they co‑run, funds are being misused. Those are the one‑hundred‑billion‑euro amount allocated to the Länder. In my home state, NRW, the black‑green coalition uses that money to plug budget holes”.
He concluded angrily, “When the Greens point a finger at the federal government, four fingers point back at the Greens”.
The Länder receive €100 billion earmarked for infrastructure investment. How they spend it differs. “Some states-particularly those led by the SPD-hand most of the money directly to cities and municipalities” Wiese explained. “NRW takes a different route: it gives only 60 % directly to local authorities and sets up promotion programmes that should have already been funded in the budget. It then uses the money received from Berlin to top up its own accounts. From my perspective that is unacceptable, and the Greens share responsibility in NRW”.