The CDU Economic Council has welcomed the Bundesrat’s veto concerning the relief bonus outlined by the federal government. Speaking to Funke-Media, the council’s General Secretary, Wolfgang Steiger, stated that the Bundesrat’s decision to halt the €1,000 premium was both “correct and consistent”. Steiger added that the Economic Council had criticized the bonus from the outset, arguing that it unfairly and unilaterally shifted responsibility onto employers precisely when the economy remains in a difficult phase.
The council chairman emphasized that the government needs to take far deeper measures. According to Steiger, instead of implementing “short-term symbolic policies” Germany urgently requires genuine structural reforms-particularly concerning tax policy, significant bureaucracy streamlining, and improving the economy’s overall competitiveness.
The tax-free relief bonus, which allows companies to pay up to €1,000 to their employees, is therefore temporarily scrapped. This follows the Bundesrat’s surprise rejection of the draft legislation, which had already been passed by the Bundestag, during a session last Friday.
