"Now it's important to get the special infrastructure fund up and running quickly so that people see that the money is being used to finance worthwhile projects," the Prime Minister told "Welt am Sonntag." The money must reach schools, daycare centers, hospitals, road construction, and universities. "However, the initial proposals from the Federal Ministry of Finance have alarmed me and other Prime Ministers. The Federal Ministry of Finance has planned a very bureaucratic approach."
Wüst demands: "We need simple and low-bureaucracy procedures. The money must be made available to the states smoothly for the agreed purposes. We must then be able to work together with the municipalities to ensure that the necessary measures are implemented – without federal oversight bureaucracy."
The Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia declared that the federal states in western Germany, including North Rhine-Westphalia, now have "enormous catching up to do": "Over the past 30 years, municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia have paid €250 billion in social benefits under federal social security laws. Since reunification, our municipalities here have paid a municipal solidarity levy of €15 billion to help cope with the consequences of socialism in the new states. During the same period, our municipalities' cash borrowings have risen to €19 billion. Anyone with such high debts will no longer invest. In this respect, it's quite clear: Now it's the West's turn."
With regard to the demands of the eastern German states and their financial needs, Wüst said: "One cannot deny the good condition in which many historic city centers in the east have been restored. How much money has flowed into new roads, bridges, and buildings. That's a good, sensible thing. However, there are now shifts in needs."
The CDU politician also urges the federal government to contribute more financially to federal legislative initiatives now and in the future.
"It's about implementing what's stated in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU, and SPD: 'Whoever orders, pays,'" Wüst told the newspaper. Financial compensation must be provided for federal projects that the states have to implement, for example, through sales tax points – as provided for in the Basic Law.
"It's about ending the endless haggling over every single law and agreeing on a reliable mechanism." The clever provision in the coalition agreement was the basis for many state representatives to be able to agree to the overall package. "I can't imagine that the federal government would want to break such a central promise of the treaty right at the beginning of the legislative period. In any case, I can only warn against that," said the Minister-President.
