Lindner, a leader of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), has been sharply at odds with the rest of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left coalition over budget issues, tax policy and how to boost Germany’s sputtering economy.
Those conflicts have raised speculation in recent weeks that his FDP might even quit the three-party coalition and force early elections, a rare event in recent German history.
In the paper, which was first published by Stern magazine, Lindner demands an end to Germany’s solidarity surcharge, an extra tax charged on high earners, as well as an immediate moratorium on any new business regulations.
The paper also calls for Germany to back away from ambitious national climate targets, and instead rely on EU-wide climate targets.
The stances are well-known positions of the FDP, but the timing of Lindner’s paper will likely exacerbate the tensions already pulling apart the coalition.
Less than two weeks ago, Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens once again proposed a debt-financed billion-euro fund to promote investment, something that Lindner and other budget hawks in the FDP rejected out of hand.
Scholz, meanwhile, has been promising to present a “pact with industry” following a series of summits with labour and business leaders, from which the centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) has pointedly excluded both Lindner and Habeck.
#Dpa
