Aid for Ukraine will now be exempt from German budget rules under a deal cut in Berlin to pass a massive debt-backed infrastructure and military spending package.
BERLIN – Germany’s two main centrist parties struck a deal with the Greens on Friday to pass a massive infrastructure and defence spending package that marks a major turning point in the country’s normally cautious fiscal policy.
The Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social (SPD), who are poised to form Germany’s next government coalition, had proposed loosening the country‘s strict debt rules in order to invest potentially huge sums in rebuilding the military and on infrastructure projects.
The parties confirmed that they had agreed with the Greens to add climate spending and make moves to exempt Ukraine aid from the budget rules. The deal secures the votes needed to pass the deal after several days of tense negotiations.
Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz (CDU), said he was “very satisfied with both the substance and the result”.
