Bremen – Andreas Bovenschulte, the mayor of Bremen (SPD), strongly criticizes the Berlin traffic light coalition in connection with the „Growth Opportunities Act“ presented by the federal government. „What the federal government is doing with the Growth Opportunities Act is similar to what a pub-goer does when he calls for a round of drinks and then reaches into his neighbor’s pocket to pay for it,“ Bovenschulte told Die Welt (Monday edition).
„Approximately two-thirds of the costs incurred by the Growth Opportunities Act are borne by the states and municipalities. This is not fair and therefore Bremen will not approve the law in this form.“ Bovenschulte announced that Bremen would only agree to the law in the Bundesrat if the federal government would bear the majority of the costs resulting from the planned economic reliefs. Otherwise, the Bremen budget would be short of approximately 200 million euros over the next four years: „This is a huge amount for us that would have to be cut one to one from the tasks we have to fulfill as a state and municipality.“
The consequences would be „significant performance restrictions“ for both citizens and companies. „My oath of office requires me to prevent this impending damage to Bremen,“ said the SPD politician. Like many other social democrats, Bovenschulte called for the introduction of a „bridge electricity price“ for energy-intensive industries; it’s also about whether all regions in Germany are taken equally seriously in Berlin. „I have nothing against the federal government investing ten billion euros in a semiconductor plant in Saxony-Anhalt. But one must also do something elsewhere to keep or even create industrial companies with thousands of jobs in the country,“ said Bovenschulte.