Reduced Restaurant VAT to 7 Percent Not Felt by Customers as Prices Stay Steady
Two months after the German government lowered the VAT rate for restaurants from 19 % to 7 %, the expected benefit is hardly visible for diners. A joint study by the “Tagesspiegel”, the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” analysed order‑data from the payment provider Orderbird covering 1 October 2025 to…
March 4, 2026
DAX Starts Mild Recovery Effort While Nervousness Persists
The DAX opened on Wednesday morning with a modest gain after a series of sharp losses over the past few days. At around 9:30 a.m. local time the index was calculated at roughly 23,875 points, about 0.4 percent above the previous day’s closing level. SAP, Infineon and Munich Re topped the list of performers, while Adidas, Bayer and Continental fell to the bottom. Thomas…
March 4, 2026
Black‑Red Coalition Reaches Final Compromise on Debt‑Brake Reform
The reform of the debt‑brake, one of the most important projects for the current coalition government, has reached a decisive turning point. The reform commission remains highly divided, but a last‑ditch attempt to produce a consensus proposal is underway, according to the FAZ. A key compromise under consideration is to tie stricter savings obligations to the debt‑to‑GDP…
March 4, 2026
Fuel Prices in Germany Jump 12 Cent per Liter After Iran War Outbreak
The fuel prices at German petrol stations have spiked dramatically since the outbreak of war in Iran. A litre of Super E10 was on average 1.897 € on Tuesday, a jump of 12.1 cents compared with the week before, according to an ADAC spokesperson speaking to dts news on Wednesday. Diesel averaged 1.917 € per litre, an increase of 17.7 cents over the same period. Already the…
March 4, 2026
German SMEs Show Renewed Spirit for Innovation
In the period from 2022 to 2024, 41 percent – equivalent to 1.6 million firms – reported making at least one innovation during the preceding three years, according to a KfW study released on Wednesday. That represents a two‑percentage‑point rise over the 2021‑2023 interval. In 2024, companies spent 35.4 billion euros on innovation, an increase of 1.8 billion…
March 4, 2026
German Hospitals See 50% Surge in Endometriosis Admissions Over a Decade
The number of inpatient treatments for endometriosis in Germany rose 50.1 % over a decade. In 2014 there were 25,100 such hospitalisations, whereas in 2024 that figure climbed to about 37,700.This sharp increase is likely not solely due to a higher prevalence of the disease. Greater awareness among patients and doctors probably played a role, as 91.1 % of the women who were…
March 4, 2026
Auto Industry Business Outlook Improves Again In February
The business climate in Germany’s auto industry continued to improve in February. The Ifo business climate indicator rose to -15.6 from -19.1 in January, showing that firms assessed their current situation more positively than the month before, even as expectations for the near‑future edged downwards.Anita Wölfl, an Ifo industry specialist, explained that demand from…
March 4, 2026
Iran’s Ballistic Rocket Arsenal Diminishes After Fifth Day of US-Israel Assaults
On the fifth day of the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, new evidence suggests that Iran’s ballistic‑missile capabilities are weakening, according to a recent analysis by the U.S. think‑tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The campaign is designed to destroy Iran’s ballistic‑missile launchers before the U.S. and Israel exhaust their interceptor…
March 4, 2026
Malmendier Urges End to Long Iran Conflict
Former economist Ulrike Malmendier warns that a protracted Iran war would carry serious economic and political fallout for the United States. “Many people voted for Trump because they do not want the US embroiled in a conflict” she told the “Rheinische Post”‘s Wednesday edition. “Now it will hinge on how long the war lasts: after more than…
March 4, 2026
German State Premiers Push For Tougher Penalties on School Dropouts
A proposal submitted to the conference of state leaders (MPK) in Berlin this Thursday calls for stricter enforcement of compulsory school attendance by the sixteen German states. The initiative, which originates in Hesse, comes in response to a noticeable rise in unexcused absences over recent years. Prime ministers agree that “the right of every child and youth to…
March 4, 2026
Saxony‑Anhalt Premier Urges Fuel and Energy Relief Amid Middle East Crisis
Sachsen‑Anhalt’s Prime Minister Sven Schulze (CDU) has called for consultations on relief measures for households and businesses as gasoline and energy prices rise in connection with the war in the Middle East. In an interview with “Politico”, Schulze explained that a fresh discount on fuel is unlikely to be agreed on so quickly. “What matters is that…
March 4, 2026
German Justice Minister Criticizes US-Israel Strike on Iran as Unlawful
German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) said that the United States’ and Israel’s attack on Iran cannot be defended on the basis of international law. She told the news portal T‑Online that the concept of self‑defence has not yet been proven by international‑law scholars. “In the long run, the right of the stronger does not help us” she told…
