The three-party government coalition is split over the reform of EU debt rules, with high-ranking Greens criticising on Tuesday Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) for being confrontational about strengthening EU fiscal rules, not diluting them.
On Wednesday, the European Commission will present its legislative proposal for the EU’s rules for the national debt and deficits (“Stability and Growth Pact”), in which it wants to make the application of the rules more targeted to the individual situation of EU countries.
Only one day ahead of the proposal, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) warned against a loosening of the rules, insisting on minimum requirements for annual debt reduction of highly-indebted member states, such as Italy and Greece.
“We need to strengthen EU fiscal rules, not dilute them,” he wrote in Tuesday’s op-ed in the Financial Times.
In the piece, Lindner reiterated the position of the German government, which had been sent to the European Commission in an unofficial paper earlier this month.
“Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact cannot be an end in itself,” Lindner wrote. If the German government’s position would not sufficiently be considered, “changing the rules would not be advisable,” he wrote, questioning the overall reform.
However, his words sparked strong criticism from within the German government coalition.
“It would be advisable for all coalition members to wait for the EU Commission’s proposals first and look at them in detail before publicly driving in pegs,” Anton Hofreiter (Greens), head of the Committee for European Affairs in the German Bundestag, told EURACTIV.
“At the European level, a confrontational approach almost never proves helpful,” he said, criticising Lindner for his last-minute public push.
For Hofreiter, the purpose of the reform is primarily to enable EU states to invest in climate-friendly technologies. “For this, the EU member states need sufficient budgetary leeway and fiscal rules that work for everyone,” he said.
Lindner, too, must “acknowledge that the current rules do not work”, Hofreiter said.
The EU Commission announced in March that it would not prolong the application of an exception to the fiscal rules, which allowed member states to have higher debt and deficits during the Covid pandemic.
EU institutions aim to finalise the reform during this year so that the new rules can already be applied to national budgets in 2024.
“Lindner’s rhetoric is harsher than his negotiating mandate,” said EU lawmaker Rasmus Andresen, head of the German green delegation in the EU Parliament.
“The EU Commission should not listen too much to Berlin, but present a proposal that fits the times economically, boosts green investments and prevents social division.
Source: euractiv
