Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's conservative bloc and the most likely next chancellor, expects coalition talks with the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) to be marked by difficulties regarding Germany's finances, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"First of all, we have to talk about reforms and possible savings in the federal budget," Merz said yesterday on German public broadcaster ADR.
After winning the parliamentary elections in February, Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, are holding coalition talks with the Social Democrats of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The three parties have reached a key financial agreement to allocate funds for infrastructure and defense, which is due to be voted on in the lower house of parliament on Tuesday.
The package, amounting to 500 billion euros, is the subject of great controversy not only because of its size, but also because it includes a loosening of constitutional limits on Germany's debt, DPA reports.
After initially refusing to support the package, the "Greens" ended their opposition to the bill on Friday, when it was announced that 100 billion euros of the fund would be allocated to combating climate change.
Several German lawmakers have launched a new attempt before the Federal Constitutional Court to prevent a vote on the defense, infrastructure and climate neutrality package scheduled for Tuesday.
Independent lawmaker Joanna Cottar said she had filed a second lawsuit in Karlsruhe to have the Bundestag vote postponed. The constitutional court confirmed receipt of the lawsuit yesterday.
Three lawmakers from the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) are also planning to file an urgent lawsuit in Karlsruhe with the same goal. They argue that the time for discussing the 500 billion euro debt relief package is too short. euros, was insufficient.
The Bundestag's budget committee approved plans on Wednesday to significantly increase state borrowing to bolster defense and revive growth in Germany, Europe's largest economy, Reuters reported.
The committee met in an extraordinary session and backed the plans - agreed on Friday by the conservative CDU/CSU, the Social Democrats and the Greens - and sent them to parliament for adoption.
The bill will require a two-thirds majority in a vote in parliament.
It will be one of the last major acts of this Bundestag before the new parliament convenes on March 25 after last month's elections.