Germany's Greens publicly oppose Merz's debt brake reform

Germany's Greens party on Monday declared its opposition to Friedrich Merz's planned constitutional changes to massively boost defence and infrastructure spending, putting the proposal's future in parliament in question.

During a press conference, the co-chairwomen of the party announced the Greens did not find Merz's proposals convincing enough and suggested amendments, including earmarking money for climate protection.

"From our point of view, these are not things that are appropriate to the situation in the country," Greens Party Chairwoman Katharina Dröge said of Merz's plan.

Merz, who won the German election in February and is waiting to become the country's next chancellor, announced last week that his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, alongside the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), had agreed to loosen the country's constitutionally enshrined debt brake to exempt defence spending above 1% of the GDP.

Merz and the SPD's new parliamentary leader, Lars Klingbeil, also announced a special €500-billion fund to finance spending on Germany's infrastructure over the next decade.

Any bill that involves amending Germany's constitution requires the agreement of a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag — meaning Merz relies on Greens' votes to push his proposals through.

Merz, who repeatedly campaigned against reforming the so-called "debt brake" in the run-up to last month's elections, has framed his U-turn as critical to ensuring Germany is prepared to face "threats to our freedom and peace on our continent."

Politicians and experts have praised and criticised his plan alike, dubbing it everything from a "bazooka" to "risky".

He has additionally been criticised for reconvening the existing parliament, where