Federal Finance Minister Jörg Kukies (SPD) no longer expects a decision on the planned child benefit increase and the adjustment of the so-called “Cold Progression” in 2024. “This calendar year will not be finally decided. We simply lack the time for that” Kukies told the Welt (Friday edition). There will also be a certain retroactive effect on child benefit and the adjustment of the Cold Progression.
“If the relevant law is to be quickly passed by the Bundestag, the Bundesrat would have until February 21, two days before the election, to pass it” the finance minister said. Whether this will happen depends on the CDU and FDP.
On the other hand, the decision on the basis for the provisional budget management in 2025 has been made. “We will largely orient ourselves on the government’s draft budget for 2025” Kukies said. The government’s draft budget only serves as a basis for calculations and does not exempt from the decision on which expenditures can be made in accordance with the Basic Law.
Kukies does not see the risk of a new constitutional crisis for the Scholz government through the orientation on the 2025 government’s draft budget and not on the 2024 expenditures. “Taking the government’s draft budget for 2025 as a basis is a precise implementation of an intensively reviewed recommendation from the budget department of my house” Kukies said.
He knows the voices of constitutional lawyers who see it differently. “However, it is the firm opinion of my house that the orientation on the government’s draft budget is constitutional” Kukies said. By doing so, the familiar procedure of previous years with provisional budget management will be maintained.