Markus Söder, the head of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Friedrich Merz’s CDU, has called for a new special German defense fund which he said would “send a powerful signal” internationally.
As for how Germany would finance such a fund, Söder said his conservatives would be open to using the existing majority in the country’s outgoing parliament to stock up the so-called Sondervermögen – the €100-billion special fund for Germany’s armed forces, which outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
This, however, would be a discussion for CDU leader and likely incoming Chancellor Merz to discuss with SPD chairman and parliamentary leader Lars Klingbeil, who Söder said were the “central axis” in this.
“We’re talking to each other but it’s far too early to say anything,” said Merz on Tuesday. “At the moment, I see it as difficult.”
Debt brake in focus
The key to this endeavor is that the debt-funded special defense fund was anchored in Germany’s constitution and is therefore exempt from calculations relating to the country’s fiscal “debt brake.”
Theoretically, this means that additional loans could be taken out to increase the fund, provided such a motion were passed by a two-thirds majority – which the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens have in the outgoing parliament.
In the new parliament, however, which will be put together based on the result of Sunday’s election, the growth of the far-right AfD and the socialist Left Party, who are both opposed to increased defense spending, will wipe out that majority.
Would forcing through new spending be legal?
The AfD, which will form the biggest opposition party in the new parliament after coming second in the election with 20.8% of the vote, slammed the suggestion as an unconstitutional “coup.”
“The previous parliament is history,” said a spokesperson. “Never before in the constitutionally prescribed 30 days between election and the convening of a new parliament has an old parliament ever passed laws, let alone changes to the constitution.”
Finance Minister Jörg Kukies from the Social Democrats (SPD) said time was short for “such a complex undertaking,” but insisted:
“Legally speaking, a change in the law would be possible … to set up a new special defense fund. Until the swearing in of the new parliament, the old parliament remains fully capable and retains all rights, including changes to the constitution.”
