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"Extraordinary debate in Germany"/ DW: Merz under pressure for financing plans worth hundreds of billions
2025-03-13 18:14:33 / BOTA
Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, presented a plan for financing major defense and infrastructure spending to the Bundestag at noon on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Merz aims to invest 500 billion euros in infrastructure over the next ten years and wants the financing to be done through a special loan fund, the financing of which would require a change to the debt brake regulation, anchored in the German constitution since 2009.
The Green vote is essential
Since these changes involve constitutional reform, the borrowing plans require a two-thirds majority in parliament. For this reason, Merz is trying to push the plans through the old parliament, where he hopes to achieve this majority with the votes of the Social Democrats and the Greens.
To secure their support, he made concessions: The special fund would include around 50 billion euros for climate protection measures. In addition, he agreed to additional funds for the secret services and civil protection. Complacently, the potential future Chancellor of Germany declared: "What more could you want in such a short time?"
The Greens still against
But Merz seems to have done his calculations without the landlord. During the first reading of the bill in the Bundestag, the Greens said they were not satisfied and would not accept it in this form.
The Greens' parliamentary group leader, Katharina Dröge, responded bluntly: "We don't trust you." She accused Merz of a sudden change of stance on the debt rules, describing it as a purely tactical move for party purposes. She recalled that the Greens and the Social Democrats had previously made such a request to change the debt brake last year, but Merz, as an opposition member, had rejected it.
However, the Greens have signaled that they will seek further changes to the bill. They also want the money to be borrowed not to be accompanied by a reduction in income taxes. "We don't want to finance consumption, but investment," said Britta Haßelmann, co-chair of the Greens' parliamentary group.
Extraordinary session in the Bundestag
The session is extraordinary because it is being held with the composition of the old Bundestag, which was officially dissolved at the end of December 2024 and now functions only for special occasions. The meeting of an outgoing Bundestag, while a new one has been elected, to make such an important decision occurs for the second time in German history. The first time was on September 16, 1998, when the Bundestag decided for the first time on the participation of the Bundeswehr in a combat mission, that in the former Yugoslavia. At that time, the Bundestag met at a special request from Washington.
Now it is thought that the reasons are more of a tactical nature, because in the new Bundestag, not only the votes of the Greens would be enough, but those of the Left would also be needed. This party, which surprisingly won nearly 10 percent of the vote in the last elections, is in favor of lifting the debt brake, but not using it for military spending.
The Left, as well as the far-right AfD party, are protesting against the change in this rule before the Constitutional Court.
For Merz, this appears to be a major test. If he fails to convince the Greens, it could jeopardize not only his dreams of becoming chancellor, but also shake up the political balance in Germany./ DW
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