Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has put the two-day meeting of his cabinet on Sunday under the motto of confidence. Although there are numerous points of contention between the SPD, Greens and FDP with regard to the budget for the coming year, Scholz said at the beginning of the debate in the guest house of the Federal Government in Meseberg, near Berlin: "We will first talk about how a society that has so much ahead of it can be and remain confident." The government had come together to discuss a few fundamental issues, "which we believe are worth negotiating with a little more calm."
Eckart Lohse
Head of the parliamentary editorial office in Berlin.
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In the traffic lights, there had recently been clear disputes, especially between the Greens and the FDP. These include accelerating the planning of infrastructure projects and the question of whether the European Union should decide to ban internal combustion engines from 2035. The FDP rejects this.
The controversial issues were not on the official agenda for the talks. First, the cabinet round wanted to talk with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) about "Economic perspectives of Germany and Europe at the turn of an era". "We are currently in a great time of upheaval, not only because of Russia's terrible war of aggression against Ukraine and the associated turning point, which has called into question so much that seemed certain to us for many decades," Scholz said.
One reason for the irritated mood in the coalition is that the FDP chairman and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants to present the key points for the 15 budget on 2024 March. In doing so, he is confronted with financial demands from some departments. For example, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is calling for a significant increase in the defense budget despite the 100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr. It is not only in his party that there are indications that the financing of social and climate policy projects should not be neglected.