Germany’s Bundesrat on Friday approved a constitutional amendment clearing the way for a €500 billion ($547 billion) financial package to fund defence, infrastructure, and climate initiatives.
The step secured the required two-thirds majority in the upper house, following a similar vote in the Bundestag earlier in the week.
The measure now awaits review and formal approval by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
In the Bundesrat, 53 out of 69 votes backed the amendment, surpassing the 46-vote threshold. Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Rhineland-Palatinate abstained, with abstentions counted as opposition votes.
The amendment relaxes Germany’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake, allowing borrowing for spending on defence, civil protection, intelligence and cybersecurity. Any such expenditures exceeding 1% of Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) can now be financed with new debt.
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