Share :

Download PDF :

Politico (24 March 2025)

 Nette Nöstlinger

For Friedrich Merz, the hard part begins now.

The incoming conservative chancellor began coalition talks with the Social Democrats by giving them exactly what center-left parties have always wanted, reaching a landmark deal to unleash hundreds of billions of euros in new borrowing to bolster Germany’s military and infrastructure, including funds for green energy.

For Merz, long a preacher of fiscal discipline, the borrowing deal was a historic policy reversal — one that was easy for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to endorse. But pressure is now growing on Merz from inside his own conservative alliance to secure traditional right-wing policy concessions in return, particularly on migration and cuts to welfare.

Click for more