German coalition backs "game changer" budget, opposition unimpressed
Germany's budget for 2025 is a "game changer" for the country, a leading conservative lawmaker said on Friday, rejecting furious criticism from opposition parties.
Christian Haase, a budget specialist from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right bloc, said the "budget of superlatives" provides "answers to the two major challenges: the economic situation and the geopolitical challenges."
Haase said the new budget - which is set to be voted on by lawmakers this month after passing in the parliamentary budget committee late on Thursday - includes massive investments in the country's future.
"We want to stimulate growth, we want to modernize Germany and, of course, strengthen internal and external security," he said.
Haase highlighted the defence budget, which is rising from €90 billion ($105 billion) to €150 billion.
"I believe this is the best statement and the best thing we can say to our opponents around the world: Germany is defending itself again," he said.
The comments came after the budget committee in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, approved core spending of around €502.5 billion and almost €82 billion in new debt.
Additional loans from special funds for the Bundeswehr - Germany's military - and infrastructure mean total new borrowing could exceed €140 billion.
Due to early elections in February and the formation of Merz's new coalition government, ministries have been operating since the start of the year with only a provisional budget, which has significantly limited their financial flexibility.
Opposition parties unimpressed with the budget plans
Michael Espendiller from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) slammed what he called a "funding jungle" and warned that "no one understands this budget as a whole."
Dietmar Bartsch from The Left called the proposals a "financial policy maze" and a "free pass for the arms industry."
The government's promised "autumn of reforms" will be met by his party with a "hot autumn," Bartsch promised.
Instead of investing in new technologies and climate protection, the coalition is using special funds to plug holes in the budget and cement fossil fuel infrastructure, said Sebastian Schäfer from the Greens.
By cutting humanitarian aid, Germany is jeopardizing its good reputation, he added.