FDP and Greens position themselves for the Ministry of Finance

Berlin Before the start of the coalition talks on the formation of a government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP, a dispute about the allocation of responsibilities is looming. At the weekend the Greens and the FDP raised the right to fill the post of finance minister.

Habeck also gained experience as head of a ministry in Schleswig-Holstein. “If the aim is to reliably implement the agreements of a coalition agreement, to direct the focus on investments and to stay on course in the sometimes stormy political everyday life, then he would be exactly the right person – not just because he comes from the coast,” emphasized the Greens -Politician.

The green member of the European Parliament, Rasmus Andresen, also campaigned for Habeck. “We need a finance minister who is willing to invest in the climate and who wants to overcome social divisions. In the Federal Republic of Germany and the EU, ”wrote Andresen on Twitter. “That is why Robert Habeck should become finance minister.”

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In the election campaign, however, FDP leader Lindner made no secret of wanting to become finance minister. Several FDP politicians spoke out in favor of it at the weekend. In the exploratory paper, the part on tax and financial policy bears the signature of the Liberals. A high-ranking FDP parliamentarian told the Reuters news agency that the result of the explorations would lead to Lindner as finance minister.

Habeck confirms his party’s claim

Habeck himself, on the other hand, confirmed his party’s claim to the Ministry of Finance in the evening on ARD. “The competition is there, no question about it,” he said. “The Ministry of Finance is important.” But it is not helpful if you get into speculation about personnel now. “I always push back the personal ambitions of people, including myself, and pat everyone who twitches on the finger.”

Lindner also said that one shouldn’t speculate about positions now. But the debate has long been ongoing.

FDP Vice Kubicki sees Lindner as the ideal candidate for the office of finance minister. “Anyone who has doubts that all of this will succeed – the financing of the project without a tax increase and without new debts – must want Christian Lindner to become finance minister in order to document that it works. Otherwise the FDP would have the cake in the face, “said Kubicki on Saturday the radio station NDR-Info. However, so far neither the division of departments nor the division of departments has been discussed. Who will occupy them should only be decided at the end of the negotiations, said Kubicki.

The FDP negotiator Marco Buschmann, who helped formulate the exploratory paper of the Ampel partners, also brought Lindner into play for the central cabinet position of the finance minister. “I can think of no one better for this task,” said the first parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group in the “Spiegel”.

“In the last few weeks and months I have seen how thoroughly Christian Lindner prepared himself for this task.” That was also noticeable during the negotiations.

Lindner reacted cautiously to the recommendation of his close confidante Bushman. In the “Spiegel” interview, when asked, he “only made friendly comments about my suitability,” said Lindner of “Bild am Sonntag”. “We’re not even talking about departments yet.”

Disagreements in financial policy

From a financial point of view, however, it is noticeable that Lindner has reportedly opposed tax relief for low-wage earners in the exploratory talks. “That’s just the price we pay because the FDP has prevailed at the point,” said Habeck on Friday in Berlin. Such relief could only be achieved if taxes for top earners were raised – and that would have been rejected by the Liberals.

The FDP had also enforced that the debt brake will not be relaxed. “We will guarantee the necessary future investments within the framework of the constitutional debt brake,” says the exploratory paper by the SPD, FDP and the Greens. And: “We will not introduce any new taxes on assets.” The income, company or value added tax should not be increased.

Especially with regard to the financing of the planned future investments, the future financial policy is likely to become a central sticking point in the upcoming coalition negotiations. From the SPD-Linke came the proposal to agree on the establishment of a public investment company that could carry out the investments “in accordance with the debt brake”.

The leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP presented a joint paper on Friday on the outcome of their exploratory talks and called for coalition negotiations. The SPD executive committee voted unanimously for negotiations on Friday. On Sunday, a small party congress of the Greens also voted with two votes against and one abstention.

Now only the vote of the FDP leadership is pending on Monday. First talks about a first traffic light coalition in the federal government could begin in a few days.

More: What the SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed on – traffic light parties announce coalition talks

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