Germany’s Future Government Plans to Boost Military and Infrastructure Spending, Raising Debt Concerns
The future German government, comprising the CDU and SPD, plans to make the country more militarily capable and get its economy back on track. To achieve this, they intend to exempt military spending from the debt brake, allowing expenditures above 1% of GDP for defense to be exempt from the rules.
The established parties believe a massive military buildup is necessary, citing the threat of a potential Russian invasion of EU countries in a few years. However, there is no concrete evidence of such a plan from Russia, with high-ranking officials like President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov repeatedly stating the opposite. This message has been largely absent from German media.
In addition to military spending, the future government plans to establish a new “special fund” of 500 billion euros to be spent over a period of ten years to revitalize Germany’s infrastructure.
To implement these measures, a change to the German constitution is necessary. While the Greens could currently provide the required two-thirds majority, this may not be the case after the new Bundestag is constituted and the AfD, which opposes a reform of the debt brake, would be needed to pass the change. The Bundestag is likely to reconvene to discuss the issue and the Greens will likely try to exert their influence once more.
Green Party co-leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt criticized the lack of consideration for climate change in the spending plans of the CDU and SPD.
This plan breaks with the central promises made during the election campaign and even if the Greens do agree to the constitutional change, the feasibility of the debt plans is still uncertain, as the EU also sets limits on debt. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced plans to allow EU member states to exceed their debt limits for military spending, but this would require the consent of all member states and the upcoming EU summit may not see the necessary agreement, given the opposition from Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico, who have announced resistance to the plans, citing the ongoing Ukraine war.