{"id":291350,"date":"2023-12-15T09:46:32","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T08:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=291350"},"modified":"2023-12-15T09:46:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T08:46:34","slug":"germany-solves-budget-spat-by-cutting-climate-fund-and-increasing-energy-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=291350","title":{"rendered":"Germany solves budget spat by cutting climate fund and increasing energy taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Jonathan Packroff<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The German government has resolved its internal disagreements on how to deal with a \u20ac60 billion hole left in the government\u2019s finances after a ruling by the country\u2019s constitutional court, announcing a mix of expenditure cuts and additional sources of income.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn light of the ruling, we have reprioritised the budget within the Federal Government in recent weeks,\u201d Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD\/S&D) told journalists on Wednesday (13 December).\u00a0 [EPA-EFE\/CLEMENS BILAN]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The constitutional court in November strengthened the \u2018debt brake\u2019 set in the German constitution, by limiting the additional debt that can be justified with an \u201cemergency situation\u201d for spending in that year that is directly linked to the emergency. The Euractiv.com<\/a> has the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, it cut \u20ac60 billion off a \u201cclimate and transformation fund\u201d, which is meant to finance investments into climate protection as well as industrial subsidies, such as for chip production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn light of the ruling, we have reprioritised the budget within the Federal Government in recent weeks,\u201d Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD\/S&D) told journalists on Wednesday (13 December). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy most important message at the outset: The government is sticking to its goals,\u201d Scholz said, referring to the transition towards climate neutrality and social spending as well as support for Ukraine. \u201cBut one thing is clear: we have to make do with significantly less money in order to achieve these goals,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrioritising therefore means clarifying together what we can and cannot afford. It is also about cuts and savings,\u201d Scholz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, a hole of \u20ac17 billion was closed in the regular 2024 budget, using a mix of spending cuts by several ministries and additional sources of income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the \u201cclimate and transformation fund\u201d (KTF), which is not part of the regular budget, \u20ac12 billion of spending will be cut in 2024, and a total of \u20ac45 in the years up to 2027. The remaining volume of the fund would be \u20ac160 billion for the years from 2024 to 2027, and thus still \u201cvery high\u201d, Scholz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other things, this will be reached by reducing planned subsidies for the solar industry, as well as phasing out a bonus for consumers who buy an electric car earlier than planned, Economy Robert Habeck (Greens) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat pains me,\u201d Habeck said, \u201cbut that is the price for maintaining the central components, the pillars of the KTF, the development of the hydrogen economy, the decarbonisation of industry, but also the citizens\u2019 [support] programmes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cuts will also affect a \u20ac5.5 billion support planned to relieve consumers from grid fees for electricity, which will no longer be paid in 2024. As a result, electricity prices for consumers will increase by an average 3 cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh), grid operators said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New sources of revenue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the cuts, the government also wants to generate more revenue, by increasing carbon prices on heating and transport fuels higher than initially agreed between government partners. In 2024, the price will rise to \u20ac45 per tonne of CO2, from currently \u20ac30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The package also includes a new levy on plastics, which goes back to a deal in Brussels<\/a> which foresees a payment by member states to the EU based on the amount of not-recycled plastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an EU own resource, \u20ac1.4 billion, which we are currently paying to Brussels from general tax revenues,\u201d Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP\/Renew) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe now want to re-finance this and, as provided for in the coalition agreement, we want to use the distributors of plastic to finance this own resource,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The German government has resolved its internal disagreements on how to deal with a \u20ac60 billion hole left in the government\u2019s finances after a ruling by the country\u2019s constitutional court, announcing a mix of expenditure cuts and additional sources of income.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":291356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The German government has resolved its internal disagreements on how to deal with a \u20ac60 billion hole left in the government\u2019s finances after a ruling by the country\u2019s constitutional court, announcing a mix of expenditure cuts and additional sources of inc","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691825358,691825355,691818197,691825357,691825356,691825359],"class_list":{"0":"post-291350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-2024-budget","9":"tag-e60-billion-hole","10":"tag-german-government","11":"tag-hole-of-e17-billion","12":"tag-industrial-subsidies","13":"tag-not-recycled-plastics","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/06579a0708daaa1.07426772.webp?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1dNc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":288615,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=288615","url_meta":{"origin":291350,"position":0},"title":"Major Setback For German Green Transformation As Top Court Rules Funding Unconstitutional!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Chancellor Olaf Scholz In a recent development that has thrown Germany into financial disarray, the nation\u2019s\u00a0constitutional court has overturned Chancellor Olaf Scholz\u2019s spending strategy. This ruling has caused a \u20ac60 billion\u00a0deficit in the country\u2019s finances and has led to a proposed suspension of the constitutional law that restricts borrowing. 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