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GEMRANY’S PARLIAMENT HAS passed a huge defence and infrastructure investment package proposed by chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz to form the country’s response to geopolitical upheaval.
MPs voted by a margin of 513 against 207 for a deal worth hundreds of billions of euros, which required a relaxation of a key rule requiring balanced budgets.
Known as the debt brake, it had been originally enshrined in the German constitution in 2009 by Angela Merkel’s government amid that era’s economic crash.
Merz’s CDU/CSU and their likely future coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), plan to exempt defence spending from Germany’s strict debt rules and to set up a €500 billion fund for infrastructure investments over 12 years.
The hastily drawn plans represent a radical departure for a country traditionally reluctant to take on large amounts of debt or to spend heavily on the military given the horrors of its Nazi past.
A fifth of the package will go towards climate-protection measures following a deal with the Greens to get the budget over the line.
Merz has promoted what has been dubbed an “XXL-sized” funding package as concerns grow that the United States’ decades-old commitment to European defence is faltering.
Merz’s CDU were the winners of last month’s general election, with it set to be the first time the party will return to power since Merkel was chancellor.
Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), spoke strongly about Russia as he urged MPs in the Bundestag to pass the spending package, warning that they were conducting a “war of aggression against Europe”.
“It is a war against Europe and not just a war against the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Merz told parliament ahead of the vote.
They hope to push the measures through the legislature at a time when US President Donald Trump’s outreach to Russia and hostility towards Ukraine have shaken Europe and cast doubt over the future strength of transatlantic ties.
Merz said transatlantic ties were “indispensable” but Europe needed to do more to ensure its own security and Germany should play a leading role.
He has previously outlined that an “absolute priority” of his time as German leader would be to strengthen Europe so that it can “achieve independence from the US”, in light of the Trump presidency.
Speaking today, Merz said the spending boost is “nothing less than the first major step towards a new European defence community” that could also include non-EU members like Britain and Norway, he added.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, from the SPD of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, justified the mega-spending by saying “we are facing a new era for Europe, for Germany, for NATO, and for future generations”.
He argued that boosting defence on the continent will strengthen the trans-Atlantic alliance in the long term “and place it on two legs, namely North America and Europe”.
But instead of waiting until the new government is formed, the parties wanted to get the spending plans approved by the outgoing parliament.
While this was technically legal, it prompted criticism that they were acting undemocratically by opponents on either side of the political spectrum.
The CDU/CSU and SPD were relying on the support of the Greens to help them reach the two-thirds majority required to modify the debt brake.
The Greens had threatened to withhold their support but a deal was struck late last week with Merz agreeing that €100 billion of the infrastructure fund will be dedicated to climate-protection measures.
In the next Bundestag, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the left-wing Die Linke – which both oppose the plans – would have had the numbers needed to block the package.
While Die Linke had traditionally voiced criticism of the debt brake, it had voiced discomfort and anger at the defence segment of the package.
Bernd Baumann of the AfD accused Merz of ignoring the will of voters by seeking to push the vote through the old parliament.
“The new Bundestag is the legitimate one” because “it has new majorities that the people want”, Baumann said.
Lars Klingbeil of the SPD said that the massive new spending aims to “maintain peace in Europe” but also “invest in advancing the economy and strengthening social cohesion”.
He said the massive spending, “perhaps the largest package in the history of our country” would therefore also help counter “division and polarisation”.
The measures must also still be voted through the upper house of parliament on Friday, where they also require a two-thirds majority.
Coalition negotiations will then continue between the two big parties, with Merz aiming to have a government in place by Easter on April 20 or soon after.
Merz is likely to become chancellor when the new parliament will vote on his appointment on April 23.
With reporting by © Agence France-Presse
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