The Bundesrat, the upper house of the German parliament, has approved plans by the incoming government to take on a €1 trillion debt over the coming years to boost the country’s defence and infrastructure.
The Bundesrat, which represents the 16 states of Germany, voted in favour of the proposals on Friday, March 21st, with the necessary two-thirds majority.
The vote comes after the Bundestag, the lower chamber, approved the spending plans on Tuesday.
Under the plan, a €500 billion fund is to be created to spend on infrastructure, and strict borrowing rules will be eased to allow higher spending—hundreds of billions of euros—on defence.
The centre-right CDU party’s leader, Friedrich Merz, who is on course to become the next chancellor, has pointed at the precarious geopolitical situation—Russian aggression and the United States’ perceived lack of interest in defending European security—as the reason for wanting to take on the massive debt, with which he intends to strengthen Germany’s military.
In the debate on Friday, Markus Söder—Bavarian Prime Minister and leader of the CSU, the CDU’s sister party— said
the threat from the East, from Moscow, is still present, while the support from the West is no longer what we were once accustomed to.
While the military and defence in general do indeed require a funding boost, voters, especially those who support the CDU, feel betrayed that Merz broke his campaign promise not to reform the so-called ‘debt brake’—the constitutionally enshrined limits on borrowing.
A poll released by broadcaster ZDF on Friday showed 73% of those surveyed felt deceived by Merz, including 44% of voters for the centre-right CDU/CSU alliance.
Opinion polls show that the alliance’s support has dropped to 27% from the 28.5% it received at the elections a month ago. Meanwhile, the second-placed right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which has lambasted Merz for his “orgy of debt,” has seen its popularity grow from 20.8% to 23%.
A deal with the leftist Greens party has also tarnished the centre-right’s image. The Greens successfully forced Merz to agree to channeling €100 billion to the government’s existing climate fund in exchange for their votes. They also managed to persuade him to enshrine in the constitution that climate neutrality must be reached by 2045.
Merz is currently negotiating a deal with the Social Democrats to form a government by Easter. The CDU leader has softened his tough stance on migration in order to accommodate his prospective coalition partners, who want to bring in 500,000 migrants a year, give non-German immigrants the right to vote, and make sure that deportations are only a “very last resort.”
The AfD accused Merz of caving in to the Social Democrats, and allowing them to enforce their entire election programme on the CDU/CSU alliance.
Die CDU/CSU knickt ein, während die SPD ihr komplettes Wahlprogramm diktiert: Keine Begrenzung der Migration, 500 Milliarden € Sonderschulden, Abschaffung von §218 StGB. Und Merz? Nickt brav und schreibt mit. 🤡
— AfD (@AfD) March 21, 2025
Während Deutschland vor die Hunde geht, fordert nur die AfD:… pic.twitter.com/RlgPgmvozS
