Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Friedrich Merz is rushing to unlock extra spending for German defence before he forms a new coalition.
Merz wants to remove a constitutional debt brake which restricts German government borrowing to 0.35 per cent of GDP.
He intends to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence – around €140 billion – to secure military independence from Trump’s America, but to change the constitution a two-thirds majority is needed in German parliament.
The Green party has suggested calling a snap Bundestag meeting to allow for new debt and defence investment within the next 30 days, while the existing parliament is officially still in session with its pre-election distribution of parties.
This would avoid the need for votes from the AfD, which leans towards Moscow, or the Left Party, which opposes increased defence spending.
The SPD’s current leader Scholz has suggested his party would be open to the idea.
