The next Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, presented on Thursday afternoon, March 13, 2025, in the Bundestag, a plan for financing large expenditures for defense and infrastructure.
Merz aims to invest 500 billion euros in infrastructure over the next ten years and wants the financing to be done through a special fund with loans, the financing of which would require a change in the debt brake regulation, anchored in Germany’s Constitution since 2009.
Since these changes involve a constitutional reform, the plans for borrowing require a two-thirds majority in parliament.
For this reason, Merz is trying to pass these 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 about 50 billion euros for climate protection measures.
In addition, he agreed that there should be additional funds for secret services and civil protection.
Self-satisfied, the potential future chancellor of Germany declared: “What more could you want in such a short time?”
However, Merz seems to have made his calculations without the head of the house. During the first reading of the draft law in the Bundestag, the Greens stated that they were not satisfied and that they would not accept it in this form.
