Jens Spahn, the leader of the Union faction, proposed a blanket cut of five percent to subsidies and tax benefits in a podcast on the "Table.Briefings" portal. He argues that this is an effective way to finance the tax reform, which requires a relief volume of at least ten billion euros per year.
Spahn stated, "I personally find myself increasingly leaning towards a blanket cut, a general reduction of all subsidies and tax benefits by five percent as the right approach; that already amounts to billions." He emphasized that such a step would likely gain more acceptance among the public than working through each subsidy individually.
Additionally, Spahn suggested eliminating small funding programs in the budget, particularly those with an annual impact of less than 50 million euros. "We agreed in the coalition agreement to scrap all funding programs that are smaller than 50 million euros in annual impact," he said.
Leaders from the CDU, CSU, and SPD will meet on Tuesday afternoon for a coalition committee to discuss the proposals. However, it remains uncertain whether the talks will lead to a resolution, as there have been intense disputes between the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats in recent weeks.
