When shopping, at the gas pump, when drinking beer, when heating: wherever money is spent in Germany, taxes must be paid. And everyone pays them. But if the citizens of this country are dissatisfied with politics, they often whisper: “And that's why we pay taxes?” It's not always clear where our tax money goes. There is a big problem at hand. Millions of travelers and service providers in Germany face this every day.

The country's deteriorated infrastructure makes many desperate on the German highways or trains. Specifically: about 5,000 motorway bridges in Germany are broken. This emerges from a 33-page report by the Federal Audit Office. According to the Bild newspaper, this is 500 more than officially declared. And: repairs will last at least three years longer than planned, until 2035.

Germany's dilapidated infrastructure

For years not much has happened in terms of infrastructure. FOCUS online has reported in detail how bad our roads, bridges, railways and waterways are. Conclusion: Many things are deteriorated and that is holding the country back.

According to the auditors, the responsible company Autobahn GmbH is already far behind the requirements of the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMDV) when it comes to bridge modernization. To change that, we need more money and more jobs.

With the federal budget for 2024, which was not approved until the end of January 2024 after a long delay, the federal government has set the course for Germany. But was this also an opportunity to address one of the country's most pressing problems? Will the money raised also be invested in sometimes disastrous infrastructure?

The infrastructure problem is slowing down the German economy

Thomas Puls, transport and infrastructure expert at the German Economic Institute (IW), also underlines how important this would be. “For a long time, infrastructure was seen as a location advantage for Germany. This assessment is changing more and more,” says Puls FOCUS online.

According to an IW survey, 27 percent of participating companies recently found infrastructure hindering their business activities, Puls explains. In 2013 it was eleven percent.

The poor state of infrastructure not only slows down the country and its inhabitants, but also the German economy.

The most pressing problems at the moment are the state of the bridges along the most important freight routes, the state of the railway network and the situation of the locks. “The latter are often overlooked because inland transport is concentrated in the Rhine area. In fact, all the problems that also affect roads and railways can also be found in waterways, only in a more form. serious.

Around 438 billion euros in taxes by 2024

The federal government has now used billions in tax revenue where it believes action is most necessary. The estimated total of 477 billion euros (three percent more than the previous year) breaks down as follows:

As the graph shows, the net debt is 39 billion euros. The rest, about 438 billion euros, comes from taxes and other income.

There are also so-called “shadow budgets”, such as the “Bundeswehr special fund”, which is budgeted at approximately 19 billion euros for the financial year.

Where will billions in taxes go under the 2024 federal budget?

The big cake, which is “baked” mainly with taxpayers' money, is distributed among all ministries and supreme federal authorities. According to the budget, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) under Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) receives the largest share due to high spending on various social benefits. The following graph shows the estimated budgets of the ministries.

In second and third place are the Ministry of Defense of Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and the Ministry of Digital and Transport of Minister Volker Wissing (FDP).

While some ministries will receive more money compared to 2023 (labour and social affairs, defence, digital and transport, family, interior, finance), others will have to make do with less (health, foreign affairs, environment, economy, development, nutrition ). , accommodation).

24 percent more budget for the Ministry of Transport

The Ministry of Transportation receives 24 percent more. At first glance, the federal government appears to be accelerating infrastructure expansion and renewal.

So a significant increase? “Unfortunately, this impression is somewhat misleading,” says Puls, evaluating the estimated budget of the Ministry of Transport. According to the budget, means of transport by rail, road and waterways will have almost 8.7 billion euros more than the previous year. “A good half of this is due to an increase in the share capital of DB AG.” According to the infrastructure expert, these funds do not carry investment obligations.

Their conclusion: “In light of high construction prices and the notable delay in renovations, the funding increase is clearly too low compared to the federal government's stated goals.”

This is immediately noticeable in expansion and new construction projects, says Puls. “Here a good 600 million euros will be cut from the railway. In the case of federal highways, this item is reduced by almost half, in the case of highways it is not possible to make any declaration.” The budget for federal waterways is therefore again too low for real needs. “The federal government is not moving here.”

A ray of hope: “Increase commitment authorizations to finance long-term projects.” This means more money will be available for long-term projects.

Painful cuts in expansion and new construction

Puls further states that it is important that maintenance is a priority for all modes of transport. “The delay in the renovation work on bridges, roads and locks is now evident.”

But cuts to expansion and new construction are painful. “Given that projects that are now being postponed in planning have little chance of being completed this decade, long-term consequences are to be expected.”

In particular, upcoming repairs to railway lines and bridges should be fully financed and, if possible, carried out more quickly, according to the IW expert.

But money is not the only infrastructure problem, Puls emphasizes. Problems also arise when converting budget funds into actual construction works. Another persistent problem: planning and approval procedures take many years and there are not enough civil engineers.

“If it is not possible to rationalize and accelerate the processes parallel to budget negotiations, it will be a problem to spend the available money,” says Puls.