German federal budget: IT security to be largely exempt from the debt brake

The CDU/CSU, SPD and the green party have agreed on a financial package that loosens the debt brake. This includes the budget for IT security: it is no longer to be counted towards the debt brake if expenditure exceeds 1% of gross domestic product in future. The same regulation applies to expenditure for the German armed forces, disaster and civil protection and intelligence services. This was announced by Friedrich Merz, probably the next Federal Chancellor and CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader, and Alexander Dobrindt, head of the CSU parliamentary group, at the presentation of the agreement on Friday afternoon.

This means that – after IT security had recently been repeatedly declared a budget item to be cut despite much lip service – significantly more funds should now be available for the responsible agencies, above all the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in Bonn. According to negotiators, the Federal Foreign Office will also be able to receive significantly more money for cyber security measures if required.

… more: https://www.heise.de/news/IT-Sicherheit-soll-von-Schuldenbremse-weitgehend-ausgenommen-werden-10316410.html (translated with deepL)

Origin of text: https://www.heise.de/news/IT-Sicherheit-soll-von-Schuldenbremse-weitgehend-ausgenommen-werden-10316410.html (translated with deepL)
Picture: Foto von Ibrahim Boran auf Unsplash