The German Green Party has threatened to torpedo the plans advanced by the probable chancellor Friedrich Merz to invest hundreds of billions of defense and infrastructure.
Merz, whose Union Conservative Christian Democratic (CDU) has become the largest in the February legislative elections, wants to in particular to relax the strict limits imposed by “debt braking” in Germany to invest more in defense and security. His proposal comes as the economic experiences of the prolonged country and the direct openings of the United States President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin have left Europe to feel vulnerable on security.
THE propose Constitutional changes to facilitate strict borrowing limits in the defense field and establish a fund for infrastructure of 500 billion euros ($ 542 billion) had been described as historical when they were presented last week.
“We will not let this happen, and we will not leave Friedrich Merz and Lars Klingbeil (from the Social Democratic Party) abusing a difficult situation in European security,” said Franziska Brantner, co-leader of the Green Party on Monday.
“It is something that is not used by the country or our interests in Europe.”
The constitutional “braking” of Germany, which is the brand of Berlin’s budgetary policy since its introduction by the former Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2009, limits the new loan to 0.35% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Merz proposal Exist the military expenses of this rule – staring at any higher limit for the “necessary defense expenses”.
The changes would also establish the fund for infrastructure to spend more than 10 years and to facilitate expenditure rules for the German Federal States and the local local government.
Merz needs the support of the Greens to obtain the majority of two thirds he needs in the current Parliament for any constitutional change, such as the relaxation of borrowing limits.
He tries to rush through changes even if he remains in talks with probable coalition partners The Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Indeed, in the next Parliament, which meets at the end of the month, the extreme right alternative for Germany (AFD) and the Die Linke on the left will have more than a third of the seats. They will therefore be able to block changes.
AFD filed urgent legal requests on Monday, the Constitutional Court questioning Merz’s attempt to ask the current Parliament to examine the expense package.
Although the Greens are favorable to the reform of the strict constitutional expenditure of Germany, the changes proposed by Merz were not those who need, journalists told the head of the Bundestag, Katharina Droege.
Merz and his SPD partners created a “treasure chest” to finance their political priorities, including tax reductions, said Droege.
“The one who wants our approval for more investment must also show that it is really more investment in climate protection, more investment in the economy in this country.”
Felix Banaszak, also co -president of the party, said that the Greens would prepare their own legislative security and defense request, and that the party was ready to seriously discuss security and defense capacities in Germany.
However, he described the maneuvers of the CDU and the SPD to obtain the support of the party as “blackmail”.
“The objective is to achieve a common solution,” he said, adding that the pressure was on Merz to consult the other parts of the Bundestag or the Parliament.
Reacting to the decision of the Green Party, the leader of the SPD, Lars Klingbeil, said that he had taken his concerns concerning the change in the constitution of the country “very seriously” and promised to continue the discussions to convince the Greens.
“According to the conversations I had with them last night, I am not surprised that we are not yet on a common denominator, but the priority is now to meet and have confidential discussions,” he said.
“I think we are all aware of the importance and potential repercussions of this decision,” he added.
Joerg Kukies, the current Minister of Finance of the country, said that the Greens had legitimate points.
“I hope there will be more conferences with the Greens to convince them to support the reform of debt-food,” he told journalists in Brussels on Monday.
After the first debate on Merz’s proposal on Thursday, constitutional amendments should be voted by Bundestag members on March 18.
The Merz CDU and the SPD, currently in talks to form a government, need the support of the Greens to reach the majority of two -thirds required in the Bundestag for the constitutional revision.
The Droege Green Chef suggested to the Conservatives to reach out to Die Linke (the left), who reported a desire to reform the expenditure rules but which are more skeptical about the increase in defense spending.