2023-11-27 22:31:23
Kerosene is exempt from VAT Image: dpa
If environmentally harmful subsidies are abolished, will the federal budget be balanced? It is not that easy. Other ideas work better.
Since the traffic light coalition ran out of money, half of Germany has been talking about reducing subsidies: This would be a way to get the state budget back in order, which has been a problem since the Federal Constitutional Court implemented the debt brake. But everyone understands the term subsidy reduction differently – and not every subsidy promises the same amount.
Patrick Bernau
Editor responsible for economics and “value” at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
Particularly well-known, for example, is a report from the Federal Environment Agency that summarizes “environmentally harmful subsidies” – or at least what the office considers them to be. The report adds up to 65 billion euros annually. Sounds great: On the one hand, 60 billion euros are missing, and on the other hand, there are 65 billion euros every year? The situation is not quite that simple.
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