According to Handelsblatt information, strong arguments about defense spending have broken out behind the scenes in the federal government: about the amount for which armament projects the 100 billion euros from the planned special defense fund will be used and how specifically this should already be fixed.
The biggest point of contention: the SPD-led Federal Ministry of Defense around Minister Christine Lambrecht is apparently pushing during the budget deliberations to further increase defense spending.
According to several government officials, the Ministry of Defense is demanding that even without the planned special fund, defense spending should in future amount to two percent of gross domestic product, as promised internationally in 2014.
However, this would require an increase in the regular defense budget from the currently planned around 50 to around 75 billion euros per year. In addition, the federal government would face major problems if the debt brake were to be complied with again in 2023 as planned.
FDP rejects advance
In the Federal Ministry of Finance, this demand caused a great deal of irritation and was strictly rejected. The House of Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) will “not move” on this issue and insists on achieving the two percent target with the funds from the special fund, as intended by Chancellor Scholz, it is said in government circles.
The SPD’s demand caused a lot of trouble in the Federal Ministry of Finance and was strictly rejected.
(Photo: IMAGO/photothek)
The Federal Chancellery is said to have strictly rejected the demand, and Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt (SPD) is said to have already gotten involved in the negotiations.
There is also trouble about the special defense fund that Finance Minister Lindner wants to anchor in the Basic Law. So far, there is no economic plan from the Ministry of Defense that breaks down how the 100 billion euros are to be spent.
The Federal Ministry of Defense would like to have a free hand in distributing the new funds. However, when the federal budget is passed, the Federal Ministry of Finance wants to use a detailed economic plan to define specific projects for which the money is to be used.
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It is also being discussed whether the money can also be used for projects outside the official defense budget, such as cybersecurity.
According to government circles, there should be no “blank check” for the Defense Ministry. The money must be used “effectively and efficiently” and go hand in hand with “structural improvements in procurement management,” it said.
Fundamental reform is necessary
The Greens parliamentary group also sees the danger that the additional funds for the Bundeswehr could seep away due to a lack of reforms in the procurement of military equipment.
The Greens budget politician responsible for defense Sebastian Schäfer told the Handelsblatt: “A budgetary rush action to immediately comply with the two percent target this year would primarily burn public funds. The capabilities of the Bundeswehr will not be improved in this way.”
Procurement must be fundamentally reformed, especially with a view to major projects. “So far I have not been able to see that in the announcements by the Ministry of Defense,” says Schäfer. “Neither increasing the award amounts for small projects nor doing without tenders will bring us any decisive progress.”
According to government representatives, demands by the Greens to increase funds for humanitarian aid and development policy in exchange for higher defense spending are also causing problems in the budget deliberations.
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The coalition agreement stipulates that for every euro more for defense, the same amount of money must flow into development policy. The Greens do not insist on this one-to-one with the special fund, but they do insist on more money for development aid, they say.
In view of all these open questions, it was unclear whether the planned cabinet date for the adoption of the federal budget next Wednesday could be adhered to.
Underfunding of the Bundeswehr
The federal cabinet was originally supposed to adopt the federal budget on March 9th. Because of the new special fund for the Bundeswehr, which is to be set up as a result of the Ukraine war, the cabinet meeting has already been postponed by a week.
The Ministry of Defense has been complaining about underfunding of the Bundeswehr for years.
(Photo: dpa)
With the special fund, the Federal Government wants to make the Bundeswehr one of the “most powerful” armies in Europe within a few years, as Finance Minister Lindner announced. This is intended to deter Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin from further aggression in Europe and increase Europe’s ability for military self-defense.
The Ministry of Defense has been complaining about underfunding of the Bundeswehr for years. The house had therefore already fed long lists of necessary procurement projects into the coalition negotiations.
The Bundeswehr has repeatedly made headlines in the past because a large part of the equipment is not ready for use because it is broken or outdated.
Armament spending has risen to up to 50 billion euros in recent years. Germany was still a long way from the internationally agreed goal of spending two percent of economic output on defense.
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