Ampel and Union have been struggling to reach an agreement on citizen income for a long time. According to a newspaper report, the SPD and the Greens are now giving in to the demands of the Union. The parties are said to have reached a compromise on the sanctions.
According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, there has been an initial agreement on the planned sanction rules in the dispute over citizen income. Accordingly, the SPD, Greens and FDP want to tighten them under pressure from the Union. As the “Bild” reports, citing negotiating circles, the sanctions for misconduct should now be able to be pronounced differently than previously planned from the first day of purchase.
According to the previous plans, those affected only face limited benefit cuts during the “trust period” – if they miss an appointment at the job center several times. Only after six months do they have to reckon with additional and significantly higher reductions in benefits in the event of breaches of duty. However, the Union had rejected this and called for sanctions from day one.
At the turn of the year, the traffic light coalition wants to replace the Hartz IV system with citizen income. The corresponding law was passed in the Bundestag, but it failed in the Bundesrat last week because of the Union. The mediation committee of both chambers of parliament is now trying to find a compromise on Wednesday evening. If this does not succeed, the start date of January 1st is in danger.