This law still has to go to the Senate of Congress for approval.
The German parliament has abandoned decades of fiscal conservatism and approved a plan for a massive surge in spending, hoping to revive economic growth and expand military spending for a new era of European collective defense.
Approval of the plan in Tuesday’s host or parliament passes the waiting for hundreds of millions of euros to increase investment after two years of contraction in Europe’s largest economy.
Germany and other European countries have pressured themselves to strengthen their defenses in the face of hostile Russia and change US policies under President Donald Trump.
Conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) who are in talks to form a centrist coalition after last month’s elections hope to create a fund for infrastructure of 500 million euros ($54.6 billion) and relax constitutionally obsessed borrowing rules to allow for higher spending of security.
“We had a false sense of security for at least 10 years,” Meltz told lawmakers before the vote.
“The decision we are based on our defense preparation today is nothing more than the first major step into the new European defence community,” he said.
The law must still go to the Bundestagg Senate, representing the governments of Germany’s 16 federal countries. The main hurdles passed there appeared to have fallen on Monday when Bayern freedom voters agreed to support the plan.
The Conservatives and the SPD wanted to pass a parliament invading the laws of the resignation parliament, as it could be blocked by expanded conditions of the next far-right MP from March 25th.
Mertz justified the tight timetable by citing rapidly changing geopolitical circumstances.
Europe today faces “aggressive Russia” and “unpredictable United States of America,” Mertz said.
“I want to make this clear, and I’m in favor of doing everything we can to support transatlantic cooperation,” he added. “I consider it essential, but now I have to do my homework in Europe.
“We must ensure that it is our responsibility.
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