Mathias Middelberg, vice chair of the CDU parliamentary group, has called for the suspension on defense spending to be repealed in the future. “At the moment defense and security spending is allowed without limits-there’s no cap. That can’t stay this way forever” he told the news magazine Focus. “Expenditures for defense are not extraordinary, they’re regular state spending. Once the resupply of the Bundeswehr is finished, these costs must again be financed from ongoing revenues”.
Middelberg criticized the agreement reached last year by the black‑red exploratory team, saying it was “not a happy decision”. He added that the arrangement could have been technically better managed.
The CDU finance expert also wants an increasing investment ratio in the core budget. “Taking on debt shouldn’t become a regular source of revenue. On the contrary, we should set an ambitious minimum investment quota for the future-starting with the ten per cent we’re doing now and then gradually rising” he said.
He does not believe a further amendment to the Basic Law is necessary to reform the debt brake. “More room for investment could be achieved, for example, by recalculating the economic component” Middelberg explained. “That component is governed by simple law and could therefore be amended with a simple majority in the Bundestag, thereby opening up further investment possibilities”.