BERLIN, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Germany's traditionally business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) is considering tax raises in what will likely be the next "Jamaica" coalition party, the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported Monday.
FDP leader Christian Lindner told SZ that he could "also envision tax increases" as one mean to fulfill some of his party's campaign promises. The proposal challenges the FDP's traditional image as a party which advocates for low taxes, small government, deregulation, and liberalization.
Lindner specified, however, that his suggestion was aimed at technology giants such as U.S.-based Apple in particular. According to the FDP leader, a thorough discussion of the taxation models for such firms needed to be elevated to the "top of the agenda" of European Union (EU) and G20 policymakers.
By contrast, the core of the FDP's economic program in Germany is still centered on lowering the fiscal burden shouldered by citizens and businesses. Lindner said that his party would only join a "Jamaica" government if the other parties involved agreed to a "trend change in fiscal policy" which included reducing taxes on middle-class Germans.
After the first two days of official coalition negotiations last Wednesday and Friday, experts from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU), Greens (Gruene) and FDP are scheduled to meet this week to discuss policy issues surrounding household spending and the EU.
The "Jamaica" parties faced a "difficult job concerning the household", Lindner warned.
Jamaica coalition is a term in German politics describing a coalition government among the parties of the CDU/CSU bloc, Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Green.
The term refers to an association between the symbolic colors of the parties -- black for the CDU/CSU bloc, yellow for the FDP, and green for Green Party -- and the colors of the national flag of Jamaica.
Under ex-finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany has run consecutive annual budget surpluses since 2014 and has posted another near record surplus for the first half of 2017.
On the campaign trail, the FDP promised its voters tax reductions worth 40 billion euros (47 billion U.S. dollars) combined with a massive program of public investment.
In the SZ report, Lindner ruled out additional sovereign borrowing to meet these ambitious objectives, but otherwise refused to give a firm indication of where the necessary funds should be derived from.
Instead, Lindner said the FDP wanted to create a more efficient government, for example by eliminating subsidies for electric vehicles which he claimed were "ineffective".
The liberals also intended to sell the government's stakes in the German postal service Deutsche Post and telecommunications provider Deutsche Telekom, using the proceeds to invest in the provision of high-speed internet.
Highlighting another potential area of disagreement between the FDP and Greens, Lindner told SZ that he did not consider raising taxes on Germany's highest income earners to be "sensible".
