Brandenburg presents austerity plan: State government announces savings measures for personnel and administration

Background: Strained budget situation in Brandenburg

Interior Minister Redmann stressed that the planned measures must not come at the expense of security and order in the state. The police, the regulatory authorities, and other areas of the internal administration must remain capable of acting. Redmann spoke of a careful balancing process in which every position will be put to the test.

From the coalition in Potsdam, it was stated that the austerity steps now presented had been coordinated with the parliamentary groups in the state parliament. SPD and CDU had already anchored the austerity course in the coalition agreement. At the same time, both ministers made clear that the individual steps should only be decided on gradually.

Keller said about the further plans: 'Wir wissen, dass das der erste Schritt ist und dass wir darüber genau auch prüfen müssen, wie können wir mit allen Möglichkeiten, die wir haben, diesen Konsolidierungsweg auch fortsetzen.' He thus indicated that further savings measures in other areas could follow once the steps now presented take effect.

Reactions from the opposition and unions

The opposition in the Brandenburg state parliament reacted with restraint to criticism. Representatives of the parliamentary groups outside the coalition criticized that the state government had provided too few concrete details about which areas and which positions would specifically be affected. They demanded transparent criteria for the planned personnel reductions.

The employees' side also expressed concern. The dbb beamtenbund und tarifunion Brandenburg warned against blind austerity that could endanger the functionality of the administration. The union demanded that possible job cuts must be designed in a socially acceptable manner and discussed with the staff councils.

The background to the austerity plans is Brandenburg's financial situation. Like other eastern German territorial states, Brandenburg faces the challenge of reconciling rising expenditures — for example, in the social and education sectors — with limited revenues. The state government had repeatedly emphasized that maintaining the previous expenditure level would not be financially sustainable in the long term.

Outlook: Parliamentary deliberations upcoming

What happens next also depends on the deliberations in the state parliament. The coalition parliamentary groups intend to discuss the concrete key points of the austerity package in the coming weeks. Only afterward is it to be decided which areas of the state administration will be affected by job cuts and to what extent.

Both ministers expressed their willingness to engage in dialogue during the presentation of the plan. The proposals would first be evaluated internally and then introduced into the parliamentary process, it was stated from the State Chancellery. The exchange with the municipalities, which carry out a large share of administrative tasks locally, is also to be intensified in the coming weeks.