It was approved a while ago in the Bundestag, the federal parliament, the 2024 budget, which foresees expenditure of 477 billion euros and new debt of 39 billion, at the “debt brake” limit.

The budget, which should have been approved as early as December but was delayed due to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court which resulted in the need to cover an additional budget gap, was voted in favor by MPs from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Liberals (FDP ), while the opposition parties voted against him.

Among the measures envisaged are the phasing out of agricultural oil subsidies, which have sparked strong protests from farmers, a higher tax on airline tickets and the removal of a government subsidy for the purchase of an electric car.

The coalition is governing “in the absence of the citizens”, Christian Union (CDU/CSU) budget spokesman Christian Haase said, while for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Peter Boehringer spoke out against spending to further support the Ukraine and funds for the energy transition. Left-wing MP Gezine Lets, for her part, accused the government of contributing to the strengthening of far-right parties with the “policy of cuts” it implements.

Defending his budget plan, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said it included investments of a record 70.5 billion euros, including improving rail and road networks, as well as tax cuts. “We have a budget that offers planning and investment security,” said Social Democratic Party (SPD) spokesman Dennis Rode, while Greens spokesman Sven-Christian Kindler commented that the budget “guarantees social security in uncertain times and includes major investments for climate protection”.