Category: Finance
Federal Council votes for Growth Opportunities Act
(de-news.net) – The Federal Council confirmed the Growth Opportunities Act on Friday after there had already been a majority in the Bundestag. There had until recently been resistance from the CDU-CSU after an initial rejection in the Federal Council last year. The project includes stimuli…
Pensions increase the same in East and West Germany
(de-news.net) – Pension payments in Germany will be increased noticeably in the second half of 2024. According to the Federal Ministry of Labor, the adjustment in East and West is equal to 4.57 percent – for the first time after West and East pension levels…
Criticism of the draft law for planned hospital reform
(de-news.net) – Several of the statutory health insurance companies are preparing to increase contributions after the draft hospital reform bill has been announced by Federal Health Minister Lauterbach (SPD). According to estimates, the additional contribution rate will have to increase by 0.3 percent by 2027….
Heil (SPD) announces “social guarantee,” Lindner (FDP) wants to talk about retirement age
(de-news.net) – Federal Labor Minister Heil (SPD) has announced a social guarantee. He is not prepared to move away from the retirement age of 63, at this time. Heil said that “no services that are granted to citizens” by law will be reduced – even…
Lindner (FDP): stock pension will be launched
(de-news.net) – A share-based pension package is due to be formalized shortly, Federal Finance Minister Lindner (FDP) has announced. The initial concerns of the Greens, who form the so-called traffic light coalition alongside the SPD and FDP, have been dispelled, he explained. The reform represents…
Heil and Baerbock against significant cuts in social security
(de-news.net) – Federal Labor Minister Heil (SPD) has spoken out against a moratorium on social benefits proposed by Federal Finance Minister Lindner (FDP). It is not advisable to pit external security against social security. Otherwise, support in Germany for external security will be lost. One…
Citizens’ money: those who refuse to work will face cuts
(de-news.net) – The German Association of Cities and Municipalities has put forward a proposal to make willingness to work a condition for the amount of citizen’s benefit that benefitiaries receive, inkluding Ukrainian refugees. This is the case in Denmark, Poland and the Netherlands. Germany must…
The Growth Opportunities Act has taken a step
(de-news.net) – The Growth Opportunities Act, which has already been passed by the Bundestag, has been approved by the Mediation Committee, the body in which the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat negotiate compromises. The law includes tax cuts for German companies as well as measures…
18 business associations for the Growth Opportunities Act, blocked in the Federal Council
(de-news.net) – A group of 18 business associations have asked the Federal States represented in the Federal Council to end the blockade of the Growth Opportunities Act as soon as possible. The law will relieve the burden on medium-sized companies if it is passed. According…
FDP: Germany needs an economic “startup package”
(de-news.net) – The FDP has proposed a departure package for the German economy. The nominal gross domestic product in Germany was at 4.46 trillion Euros in 2023. This makes the Federal Republic the third largest economy after the USA and China. However, during a visit…
Union parties present proposal in support of the German economy
(de-news.net) – The Union parties in the German Bundestag have submitted a twelve-point plan to Chancellor Scholz (SPD) in support the German economy. The proposal contains, among other things, the demand to limit social contributions to 40 percent of gross wages, to give tax advantages…
FDP for Growth Opportunities Act and abolition of the Solidarity Surcharge for companies
(de-news.net) – The FDP has spoken out in favor of providing additional relief to German companies. The FDP’s budget spokesman in the German Bundestag, Fricke, has specifically put forward a proposal to abolish the Solidarity Surcharge for companies and thus achieve relief of 12 billion…
AfD debate: warning of a weakening of the economy
(de-news.net) – Federal Defense Minister Pistorius (SPD), who is leading popularity surveys, has spoken out in the discussion about the AfD at this weekend. At a demonstration against right-wing extremism in Osnabrück, he told around 25,000 citizens that the AfD wanted a system change back…
Refugee costs will be renegotiated in May
(GermanPolicy.com) – On Thursday, Chancellor Scholz and the Prime Ministers of the Federal States discussed the distribution of refugees in Germany and the costs involved. Lower Saxony is currently presiding over the Prime Ministers’ Conference. As a spokeswoman for the Lower Saxony State Government announced,…
Germany ticket: Bund bears half of the costs
(GermanPolicy.com) – The German Bundestag has decided that half the cost of the ticket, also known as the ’49-Euro-Ticket’ – now officially called the ‘Germany ticket,’ can be covered by the Federal Government. The ticket permits travelers to use local and regional transport – bus…
Scholz rejects changes in budgetary policy
(GermanPolicy.com) – German Chancellor Scholz (SPD) has rejected a change in budgetary policy with reference to the coalition agreement. This comes after Federal Economics Minister Habeck (Greens) and Federal Finance Minister Lindner (FDP) had taken different positions. Budgetary policy, tax policy, and social projects are…
Anniversary of the Elysée Treaty Celebrated in Paris
(GermanPolicy.com) – On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the friendship treaty between France and Germany – once signed between President de Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer – the current French President Macron and German Chancellor Scholz announced last weekend that they want to drive…
Bundestag approves budget
(GermanPolicy.com) – The German Bundestag has passed the budget for the current year, with a borrowing of almost 139 billion Euros. The special editions total almost 100 billion Euros. In order to allow for the budget, the debt brake, enshrined in the Basic Law, was…
Bundestag passes tax breaks
(GermanPolicy.com) – The German Bundestag has approved tax relief. Among the measures: the continuation of the home office flat rate, a higher allowance for employees in medicine of 4,500 Euros, and improved depreciation options for companies. In addition, the deadlines for filing tax returns have…
Reduced taxes on fuel
(GermanPolicy.com) – Fuel prices will be reduced on the tax side for the months of June to August. That was decided by the Bundestag. In the case of petrol, the tax component is now reduced by 29.55 cents per liter, including VAT by 35.20 cents,…
Bundestag passes tax relief law
(GermanPolicy.com) – The German Bundestag passed the tax relief law against the votes of the CDU-CSU. The left and the AfD voted with abstentions. The amount of the relief is 4.46 billion Euros in the current year and probably 22.5 billion Euros by 2026. This…
