“Absolute confidentiality” and meetings “without any leak in the press” had been agreed by the leader of the German Christian Democrats and the winner of the election, Friedrich Mertzand the Social Democrats (SPD) in their first exploratory contacts to form a “large coalition” between center -right and center -left. Now everyone realizes where the obsession with “confidentiality” is due.

Under the pressure of international developments and after Donald Trump’s first writing samples on the other side of the Atlantic, future government partners agreed to relax the applicable standards of fiscal discipline, in order to promote a record-breaking manner and a record of the Germans.

And cashier and relaxed ‘debt’

“In the coming days,” Friedrich Mertz explains at a press conference, “the Christian Democrats, Christian Socialists and Social Democrats will submit to Parliament a proposal for revision of the German Constitution so that the 1% of the Defense Expenditure GDP are excluded from the limitations provided by the debt brake. ” If this proposal passes, there will be no longer any limit on defense spending.

This is the first step. The second step is that a special fund of 500 billion euros is established by new borrowing (state bonds), which will finance actions for the next 10 years to modernize critical infrastructure. And here is a revision of the Constitution to institutionalize the Fund and not being able to be politically disputed or appealing to the German Supreme Court of Constitutional Court. Today’s “debt brake”, guaranteed in the Constitution, stipulates that new lending may not exceed 0.35% of GDP per year.

“The future government must end the deterioration situation in which our country has fallen,” he says Lars ClingerSPD co -chairman and certainly one of the people who will star in the future coalition under Friedrich Mertz. “In addition,” he points out, “we are in the face of a challenge to invest in a strong and confident Europe.”

At the level of party controversy, the sudden modification of the “debt” could trigger many controversy. It was Friedrich Mertz himself who, for many years, rejected any relaxation, despite the opposite views of outgoing Social Democrat Chancellor Olf Saltz. Just in the last weeks before the February 23 elections, Mertz began to “think about it”, but again he was implied that the setting up a special fund was first, so that – in the other – the constitutional registration of the “debt” to remain unchanged.

Everyone is in a hurry, except FDP

But it seems that “excellent circumstances require excellent measures”. Donald Trump’s first writing samples, and in particular the public humiliation of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski in the White House, caused an alien impression in Berlin and gave the US a no longer ally in Europe.

Thus, even the super -conservative leader of the Bavarian Christian Socialists (CSU) Marcus Zender, who has been in favor of public discipline for decades, now says that “this is a message to friends and enemies: Germany is here. It is not hidden. We will do what is necessary to protect and strengthen our country. “

The big – and difficult – bet is to pass the desired revisions of the Constitution from the outgoing Federal Parliament, and not from the one from the February 23 election. This is because the amendment requires a majority of 2/3 of the House, which can be difficult to achieve right now, but it will be almost impossible to guarantee from the next House. Specifically: In the outgoing House of CDU/CSU and SPD they can implement the revision if they provide both the votes of the Greens and the Liberal Party (FDP). The Greens do not exclude it, but ask for more detailed information. The FDP declares the opposite, but leaves a window for defense costs of the budget.

But if Mertz and Kleningbail are waiting for the next House, then the far -right “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) and the Left Party (Die Linke) will have a joint inhibiting minority, which can block a constitutional review. And they leave no doubt that they will do so. The AfD because she is believing in fiscal relaxation, and Linke because she does not want to consent to a relaxation of fiscal discipline that will fund Germany’s “re -equipment”.