In the dispute over alleged misuse of infrastructure billions by the federal government, the SPD is now counter‑attacking the Greens.
Dirk Wiese, the first parliamentary manager of the SPD Bundestag faction, accused the Greens in North‑Rhine‑Westphalia (NRW) of diverting investment funds at the state level. He says that, contrary to the Greens’ claims, the SPD‑led coalition at the federal level has done nothing wrong.
On the TV channel “Welt TV” Wiese stated:
“I do not share the Greens’ criticism in any way. The additional funding was provided. We maintained a 10 % investment quota in the core budget, exactly as legislatively agreed, and fulfilled it. Therefore the Greens should ask why, in the states where they share power, their money is being misused. These are the one hundred billion euros that are made available to the states. Especially in my home state, North‑Rhine‑Westphalia, the black‑green state government uses the funds to plug budget holes. If the Greens point fingers at the federal government, four fingers will point back at the Greens”.
The states receive €100 billion to invest in their infrastructure. They employ the money in varied ways:
“Some states, notably those governed by the SPD, pass on a large share directly to cities and municipalities. North‑Rhine‑Westphalia follows a different model: it passes only 60 % of the funds directly to local governments and runs subsidy programmes that were already planned in the budget. It now uses the money received from Berlin-essentially the freed‑up funds-to bolster its own budget. From my perspective, that is unacceptable, and the Greens share responsibility in North‑Rhine‑Westphalia”.
