Supreme Court ruling:

Bundestag may vote on debt package

The supreme court judges in Karlsruhe(Bild: AFP/ULI DECK)

The old Bundestag in Berlin may still vote on a billion-euro defense and infrastructure package from the CDU/CSU and SPD. The German Constitutional Court has rejected urgent applications by other parties against the special session. The package, which also includes billions for Ukraine, requires an amendment to the Basic Law.

The planned amendments to the Basic Law are intended to enable the future German government to take on unprecedented levels of debt. The AfD parliamentary group, individual MPs from the AfD, FDP, Left Party and BSW as well as the non-attached MP Joana Cotar opposed the special session of the old Bundestag with old majorities, which was called at short notice - the new Bundestag must be constituted by March 25 at the latest.

The CDU/CSU and SPD want to play it safe and are therefore putting the financial package and the relaxation of the debt rules to a vote in the old Bundestag.(Bild: APA/dpa/Fabian Sommer)

The court had already rejected similar motions on Friday. This means that the old Bundestag can still decide on several amendments to the Basic Law. The plan is to relax the debt brake for defense spending and for the federal states. In addition, a special fund of 500 billion euros is to be set up for additional investment in infrastructure and to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. The Greens' yes vote was linked to this condition. 

The three parties agreed in principle on the proposals last week. A two-thirds majority in parliament is required for the planned amendment to Articles 109, 115 and 143 of the Basic Law. The Bundesrat still has to approve the amendments on Friday.

After authorization, a simple majority is enough for the CDU/CSU and SPD
For 2025, this will give the CDU/CSU and SPD additional leeway of 18.76 billion euros in the budget, according to a compilation of the budget estimates by FDP budget officer Otto Fricke. By 2028, the leeway would amount to a total of 67.43 billion euros if seven billion euros a year are accepted as military aid for Ukraine. However, the newly elected Bundestag will only decide what the federal government will actually spend the money on with the respective federal budget. The majority of the CDU/CSU and SPD will be sufficient for this.