Fin Min-There Are Democratic & Fiscal Issues w/Draghi Joint Debt Call

Finance Minister Christian Lindner has just finished speaking in the Bundestag regarding the 2025 budget and the gov'ts 2024-28 fiscal plan. There has been focus on the German gov'ts response to former Italian PM Mario Draghi's reporton EU competitiveness published on 9 September. Among the myriad recommendations, one of the most headline-grabbing was that without a major increase in joint debt issuance by the EU, thevery Union will be at risk in the future.

• Lindner swiftly dispelled any prospect of Germany backing such action. Today he claimed that Germany is "the anchor of stability in Europe, if Germany broke EU fiscal rules, others would follow". Adds that the German gov't "sees democratic and fiscal problems in Draghi's proposal of EU joint borrowing".
• Lindner: 'The 2025 draft budget includes record investment of EUR81bn...[the budget] sets clear priorities, invests in what is important for companies and citizens.'
• On the submission of the budget, Lindner seeks to paper over evident cracks in the governing coalition: "As long as it is possible to reach an agreement, it is necessary to reach an agreement. Because the stability of Germany is not something to be taken lightly”.
• Speaking on the gov'ts spending plans, Lindner claims that "Germany will exceed NATO's spending goal in the years ahead". However, there has been speculation that the gov't will class seemingly-unrelated spending as defence expenditure in order to achieve the target. Last week, Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that the gov't would class some motorway repairs as defence spending.