German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz urged the parliament to act "quickly, and with great foreign policy unity" to relax the debt brake and adopt a spending package to strengthen German defense capabilities. The prospective chancellor must adopt the measure before the next parliament convenes on March 25 and Merz's coalition loses its majority.
Merz still needs the support of the Greens to pass the legislation. He said the CDU agreed to invest €50 billion in the Climate and Transformation Fund out of the €500 billion in new spending. However, the Greens have still not decided to support the bill, which will be up for a vote on March 18.