Germany breaks the debt brake and gives way to multimillionaire indebtedness before the threat of Putin

The Bundestag of the legislature of Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz has approved, just one week after its dissolution, a modification of the fundamental law that Break the taboo of German austerity With debt brake reform. The drivers of this reform, controversial in the background and forms, justified it for the need to invest in infrastructure and give what the next chancellor, conservative Friedrich Merz, called “the first big step towards a large European Community of Defense.”

The conservatives of the CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats (SPD) had secured the required majority of two thirds with Wide concessions to green. The only unknown was to know if the discontent between the ranks of the CDU/CSU for an agreement that steals part of their ADN I would throw the toll that Merz has paid to ensure the Foreign Ministry in a large coalition with the SPD. The fear of dissidents unleashed Mario Czaja. The former secretary general of the CDU announced that he would not vote in favor of lifting the debt brake “because it is not fair from the intergenerational point of view and because the reasons adduced for it are not honest.”

The reform required 489 votes in favor, since the outgoing Bundestag has 733 seats. The Greens, the SPD and the Union have 520 seats together, that is, 31 more deputies of the necessary ones. The final result was 513 seats in favor and 207 against.

Paradigm change

The paradigm shift approved on Tuesday by the Bundestag, which will dissolve symbolically on the 24th to give entry to a new parliament where the majority of two thirds would only be possible with the support of alternative for Germany (AFD), will allow the large coalition to increase up to 440,000 million euros the defense expenses, including those of civil defense and cybersecurity. The former Minister of Finance, the liberal Christian Lindner, had already planned about 63,000 million euros per year in the ordinary budget until 2028, but in the future the defense expenses that exceed the threshold of 1% of GDP will not be subject to the rules of the brake to the indebtedness, that is, they may be financed without restrictions through additional credits.

The indebtedness will also serve for the creation of a special fund of 500,000 million euros, of which 100,000 million will be diverted to the federated states and many others to the Country Climate Transformation. There are 300,000 million euros for federal investments in railways, bridges and digital networks, distributed in 12 years. “Climate protection can no longer fail due to lack of money, but only for lack of political will. We will not allow us to put excuses,” warned the president of the Greens, Franziska Brantner.

For the AFD, which folded in the elections last February 23 its presence in Bundestag and will become the first opposition party, the first steps of the future chancellor are a nonsense. The former president of the AFD, Alexander Gaulandhe recalled that Friedrich Merz, “victim of the will to power of Angela Merkel, has sacrificed everything he had of conservative or bourgeois. His policy will fail because it is a continuation of Merkel’s policy. And with the failed of yesterday there is no real change of time. That only exists with the AFD,” he said.

The session started with the opposition of the FDP and AFD liberals to the only agenda. “Here You want to change the fundamental law in a dramatic gallop. This has nothing to do with serious parliamentarism, “the AFD argued. The AFD claimed that the deputies have not had enough time to prepare.

Without options to alter the course of events, the co -chair of the SPD, Lars Klingbilopened the debate justifying the need to spend what is not in defense. The expected modification of the fundamental law is “a historical decision” but necessary because “Peace in Europe is in danger”he said. “Russia is acting aggressively and the United States is unpredictable. Europe must become stronger, ensure its own security,” Klingbeil claimed, who added that, in addition to the defense, the country must modernize to Promote the economy y strengthen social cohesion.

In his speech, Merz also emphasized defense, as if the story of the alleged threat of Russia was the only argument for consensus. “We are NATO but Germany and Europe should be able to defend themselves; hence this First big step towards a great European Defense Community“Merz said, who said that he would not only include the EU, but also countries like the United Kingdom.

Britta Haßelmann, one of the two presidents of the Verdes Parliamentary Group, started his speech accusing the CDU and Merz to ask with the brake reform of the debt what he denied to the tripart of Scholz, but advancing the favorable vote of the greens to it for “responsibility with the population” and despite the fact that “not everything can be explained or justified with the performance of Donald Trump.”

After approval of the debt brake reform in the Bundestag, The text will pass this Friday to Bundesrat. There are 46 of the 69 votes that federated states have. Regional governments formed exclusively by the CDU, the SPD or the greens only have 41 votes. Bavaria has six and, after the agreement reached on Sunday by the CSU – the Bavarian wing of the CDU – with free voters, the Federal Chamber should not pose problems.

The great coalition, when formalized, can sit on a large mountain of debt.