Forschung: Mittelstandsförderung gekürzt – SPD fordert Wirtschaftsministerin Reiche zum Umdenken auf

Die SPD has called on Bundeswirtschaftsministerin Katherina Reiche, the CDU, to reconsider planned cuts to the Central Innovation Programme for Medium-sized Enterprises (ZIM). Sebastian Roloff, an SPD economist, told the Handelsblatt that innovative products are a prerequisite for our competitiveness. Roloff argued that the federal government should generally support every application meeting the qualitative requirements.

The Federal Ministry of Economics stopped the ZIM unexpectedly at the beginning of July. Originally, 558 million euros had been planned for this year. The ministry is no longer accepting applications for the current year. According to the ministry, the demand for the subsidies has increased significantly since last year, but "restrictive measures" are necessary due to limited budgetary resources.

Reiche, like all ministries, had to cut 1% of her budget this year due to the difficult financial situation. The ministry stated that this was not a program stop but an application stop. The government is implementing the consolidation measures agreed upon in the coalition. The cuts are part of these consolidation measures, said a spokesperson.

The proposal for the ZIM cuts came from a trio of budget policymakers including Matthias Middelberg (CDU), Reinhard Brandl (CSU), and Wiebke Esdar (SPD), who apparently surprised the Federal Ministry of Economics with their proposal in early summer. While the usefulness of many support programs is disputed, the ZIM is considered successful.

A ZEW study found that each euro of funding in 2020-2023 generated an additional 1.90 euros in research spending by small and medium-sized enterprises. The program is also praised for its "lean administration." The recommendation is that despite all budgetary constraints, the federal government should not cut "investments in the future competitiveness of the German economy."