"I take responsibility for every euro of debt"

WELT AM SONNTAG: Mr. Lindner, the price of gas has recently fallen again, the economy has grown and unemployment is falling. Maybe it's not as bad as feared?

Christian Lindner: If we're surprised, then I'm the first to be happy. Nevertheless, we must act. On the one hand, we should do everything that strengthens growth and refrain from anything that saps momentum. That is why we have decided on a moratorium on burdens, are investing at a high level and are releasing the brakes on administrative procedures. On the other hand, the federal government is doing everything possible with the protective shield and the measures on the energy market so that ruinous price peaks do not lead to a loss of economic substance.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Apparently, the following applies: whatever the cost. No Treasury Secretary has ever taken on more new debt than you have in his first year in office.

Lindner: I take responsibility for every euro of debt. I see no alternative to avert damage to our country. I can guarantee that only the unavoidable consequences of the crisis will be financed with emergency loans. To do this, I separate crisis-related expenses from general projects – so no debt is taken on for election gifts or redistribution. The debt brake will apply to the federal budget with coalition projects in 2023, and the crisis measures will be financed from the Economic and Stabilization Fund. This also includes the billions for the gas price brake.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The many relief packages lead to a sense of entitlement in society, which the Chancellor reinforces with his sentence "You'll never walk alone". Wouldn't the liberal attitude be more like: if you can walk alone, you have to walk alone?

Lindner: When drowning people call for the lifebelt, like families and medium-sized companies, then that has nothing to do with a sense of entitlement. On the other hand, not everything in the economy can be subsidized by the state. That's the moment when I say: We have to go back to the principle of personal responsibility.

WELT AM SONNTAG: There is little to be heard from politics at the moment. When will the watering can principle end, as we see with the tank discount, with the energy price flat rate and now also with the gas price brake?

Lindner: I understand your criticism. With more time, more data and more knowledge, some things would certainly be handled differently. But we have to decide quickly and act in times of great uncertainty. There is no scenario for this situation, which is also the consequence of at least a decade of wrong energy policies. Ultimately, however, all previous decisions are responsible.

WELT AM SONNTAG: So you think it's right that the gas price brake doesn't differentiate between people with low and high incomes?

Lindner: A mistake, because this distinction exists. Some of the government payments are taxable. For the able-bodied taxpayers who also pay the solidarity surcharge, the gas price brake is taxed as a kind of pecuniary benefit.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has rejected the Union's criticism of the new citizens' income as "populist". Citizens' income is more based on the performance principle than Hartz IV.

Source: WORLD

WELT AM SONNTAG: Another problem with the gas price brake is that nobody understands when they will get how much money from whom. Do you understand?

Lindner: Yes. And the citizens will also be informed in detail as soon as the legal basis is finally in place.

WELT AM SONNTAG: When will the country have payment mechanisms that replace such complicated vehicles?

Lindner: Please take a step back. Naturally, the gas price brake only affects gas consumers. A general compensation mechanism would not help here. But to answer the crux of your question, I'm aiming for 2024. This is a way in which the state can transfer an amount per capita. The government revenue from CO2 pricing could be returned in this way. However, some want the payment method to be linked to other data in order to achieve distribution policy goals. I think that's wrong. There is already a system for the realization of ideas of justice: tax law.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The Union is blocking the adoption of citizen money. As head of the FDP, you should understand the resistance in the face of a 150,000 euro allowance for a family of four, right?

Lindner: On the contrary, I regret the populist impulse of the Union, which does not recognize that this is about life's work. I advise against entering into a shabbiness competition, especially when it comes to spare assets. If people slip into the relationship due to a stroke of fate, they should not have to eat what they may have built up over decades. Citizens' income rewards additional income and qualifications, while refusal to participate is sanctioned. The basic income does not replace Hartz IV with nonchalance, but with a more performance principle.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The Greens and the SPD are calling for a property levy again.

Lindner: In football one would speak of a standard situation. The arguments are unchanged. The property levy would affect the substance of family businesses. I consider them unconstitutional. A wealth tax would have to be levied bureaucratically, and at the same time the competitiveness of jobs would be severely impaired. You have to get the idea: SMEs are in trouble because of the energy prices, they have to invest heavily because of the transformation, and then there is uncertainty because of left-wing demands. But nobody needs to worry because with me there is no irresponsible tax policy.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The traffic light government also has different views when it comes to dealing with the economic power of China. They want to change commercial law in such a way that sensitive infrastructure in Germany is protected. What are you up to?

Lindner: We have to recognize that China is not only a place for trade, but also a systemic rival. That's why we need to protect our critical infrastructure and intellectual property. The wrangling over the Chinese company Cosco's minority stake in a terminal in the Port of Hamburg raised the question of whether we might be reaching the limits of our existing rights.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The Chancellor apparently has fewer problems with China.

Lindner: I think the chancellor is more sensitive than his predecessor. What is crucial, however, is that the federal government develops a new China strategy. My advice to all of us is realism and strategic vision. We must trade with China, and certainly invest further. But we should act on the principle of reciprocity in trade and economic relations. Only what is allowed for Germans in China can also be allowed for the Chinese in Germany.

WELT AM SONNTAG: So far, there hasn't been the impression that German companies with a lot of China business are learning the lessons from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and are positioning themselves more broadly. Does that worry you?

Lindner: Because I have a lot of discussions with heads of German business, I don't share your impression. China is a gigantic domestic market where our premium products are sold. That is why we must maintain trade relations with China. Incidentally, so does the United States. But we must constantly raise issues of human rights and international law. I have a good 16 years of experience in dealing with Chinese officials, so I know that people in Beijing were rather surprised when Germany acted too softly. But in the long run, our companies will also have to look at other regions of the world, such as North and South America and Africa. It is the task of politics to ensure that trade barriers are dismantled.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Germany does not even manage to conclude the Ceta free trade agreement with Canada, a country very close to Europe. How is that supposed to work with countries in South America and Africa?

Lindner: There is agreement within the federal government to ratify Ceta.

WELT AM SONNTAG: When will it be ratified?

Lindner: If it's up to me, immediately. But Ceta alone is not enough. I would be open to us offering new talks to the US. No repetition of the failed TTIP efforts, but a consequence of the changed world situation and the newly won partnership in values.

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