Investments in Climate Protection and Transformation Despite the Debt Brake

The transition to climate neutrality within the framework of the Paris Agreement and the EU Green Deal means a challenge in terms of technical and financial efforts. The small, structurally and financially disadvantaged German states of Bremen and Saarland are particularly struggling due to their CO₂-intensive industries and limited public budgets. Therefore, both governments have decided to finance the enormous public investment costs with a three billion euro debt package each. With this public funding, both states are trying to reverse the negative economic development in their regions. At the same time, this step opens up a discussion on the existing rules of the German debt brake for other federal states.