Baden-Württemberg's interior minister Strobl has signaled a willingness to compromise

In the dispute over citizen income, the Baden-Württemberg Interior Minister and CDU state chairman Thomas Strobl has signaled a willingness to compromise. If, for example, it is possible that from the turn of the year there will again be a "box of sanctions instruments" for people who are unwilling to work in the employment agencies, then one can talk about everything. That's what Strobl said on Monday in Rust (Ortenaukreis) at a conference of the Dehoga gastronomy industry association.

Under pressure from the CDU, the Baden-Württemberg state government abstained in the Bundesrat on citizen income, thus temporarily halting the reform. Strobl defended the temporary blockade to the applause of the Dehoga delegates.

Shortly before the meeting of the mediation committee on citizen income this Wednesday, the Union faction in the Bundestag is generally raising the bar for approval. The basis for this could not be mere promises from the traffic light coalition, but only a fully formulated draft law, said parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz on Monday in Berlin. With the so-called special fund for the Bundeswehr of 100 billion euros, the Union had “only had bad experiences” with political commitments made by the traffic lights in the spring, explained the CDU leader. Not a single one of these promises was kept.

He agreed with the CSU chairman Markus Söder and with the parliamentary group, "that we, if at all, only give approval if we have legal texts in front of us, which then also get their approval from both sides - the Bundestag and the Bundesrat can find". Merz emphasized: "That means political commitments "We'll do it this way" are all well and good, but they are not the basis for our approval."

Like the parliamentary group leader, CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt also emphasized that the principle of "support and demand" must be retained in citizen income. “We need to get back to the very point where we get people out of this long-term unemployment. This also requires the mechanism of sanctions.”

Merz also demanded concessions from the traffic light coalition in terms of the obligation to cooperate on the part of benefit recipients, the amount of the protective assets and the duration of the waiting period in which this is not touched. The coalition would have to “make cuts on this substantial side of their project”. So far he has not been convinced that she is quickly ready to approach these ideas.

FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai wants a correction to the so-called trust period. “If we want to achieve a joint solution on the issue of citizen income, then everyone has to move. And not only the Union has to move, but also when it comes to sanctions, trust time, the SPD and the Greens also have to move here, ”said Djir-Sarai on Monday after a Liberal presidium meeting in Berlin. He advocated dropping the trust period – during which there should be practically no sanctions.

In all discussions in the country, he experienced that many people had a feeling of disturbance "according to the motto that the issue of performance justice is not sufficiently taken into account here either," said Djir-Sarai. And: "I share this view." When it comes to sanctions, urgent work needs to be done. This is a very important point for a solution.

The child protection association and the left have also appealed to the traffic light government and the Union to settle their dispute over the new citizens' income. Child Protection Association President Heinz Hilgers told the editorial network Germany (RND) that the "games" had to be ended. "A lack of agreement would primarily harm families and children," he said. The parliamentary group leader of the left in the Bundestag, Amira Mohamed Ali, told the "Rheinische Post": "This gossip theater must finally stop." It is an indictment that traffic light parties and the Union "not even with these minimal improvements for those affected by Hartz IV". could agree.

Citizens' income is intended to replace the current Hartz IV system. It failed in the Bundesrat due to resistance from state governments led or involved by the Union. From the point of view of the CDU and CSU, those affected are granted too much protection. In addition, they would have to fear too few sanctions for breaches of duty. The mediation committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat should find a compromise next Wednesday. According to the will of the Federal Government, the Federal Council should pass the law on Friday so that the new citizens' income can come as planned at the beginning of the year.

The Union recently made its position clear again. CDU deputy leader Carsten Linnemann called for a fundamental change in the social reform plans of the red-green-yellow federal government. “Citizen’s income is about a directional decision. If the direction of the traffic light coalition does not change, a compromise will not succeed," he told RND. The principle of promoting and demanding must also be retained in the case of citizen income. "Otherwise, in my opinion, there will be no agreement."

Child Protection Association President Hilgers called for a general ban on sanctions for families with children. “Most of the time, the sanctions don’t affect those who sit at the train station with a beer bottle in the morning. Children suffer the most from the sanctions,” he told RND. "It should generally be forbidden for families with children to receive financial sanctions." He also warned that the traffic light coalition's plans for basic child security should be implemented quickly. Without these, two to three children remain a risk of poverty for a family in which the father is a taxi driver and the mother is a hairdresser, said Hilgers. These families would have to top up or struggle with bureaucratic applications for housing benefit and child benefit.

Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) recently said that she wanted to present key points for basic child security in January – the draft law should then be in place by the end of 2023. The traffic light government wants to bundle various family benefits such as child benefit in the new basic child security. There should be an income-independent guaranteed amount for all children and young people.

SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has shown himself optimistic about a breakthrough in the dispute over the planned citizens' allowance this week. "We believe that this will work this week," said Kühnert on Monday after SPD committee deliberations in Berlin. According to Kühnert, the SPD does not want to believe that there is no political majority for the planned social reform. "Millions of people are waiting here in this society," said Kühnert. This affects the unemployed and job center employees. That's why he assumes that practical reason will prevail when political practitioners discuss it.

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