German parliament approves Merz’s spending boost

In an effort to revive economic growth and increase military spending for a new era of collective defense, Germany’s parliament has approved plans for a massive spending increase, abolition of decades of fiscal conservatism.

After two years of contraction in Europe’s largest economy, the plans will receive a windfall of hundreds of billions of euros from the Bundestag or parliament on Tuesday, enabling the chancellor-in-waiting to increase investment.

In response to a hostile Russia and changes in US policy under President Donald Trump, which European leaders fear could expose the continent, have been under pressure to strengthen their defenses.

After last month’s election, Merz’s conservatives and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) are currently trying to form a centrist coalition. They also want to relax constitutionally enshrined borrowing restrictions to increase security spending.

Before the vote, Merz told the legislature, “We have for at least a decade felt a false sense of security.”

The defense readiness decision we are making today could be nothing less than the first significant step in the direction of a new European defense community, he said.

The Bundestag upper house, which represents the German government’s 16 federal states, is still in charge of passing the legislation. The Bavarian Free Voters’ support of the plans reportedly cleared the main obstacle to passage on Monday.

The conservatives and SPD wanted to pass the legislation through the incoming parliament because they worried that a growing number of far-right and far-left lawmakers would block it in the upcoming Bundestag starting on March 25.

By citing the rapidly transforming geopolitical environment, Merz justified the tight schedule.

According to Merz, Europe today faces “an aggressive Russia” and “an unpredictable United States of America.”

I want to make it clear that I support supporting transatlantic cooperation, he continued. We must now do our homework in Europe, but I believe it is necessary.