Follow our collection of news and analysis on stories from or relating to Germany on Friday, November 13.
Politicians in the Bundestag budget committee burned the proverbial candle at heading into Friday morning, trying to finalize details of the federal government's spending plans for 2027 before the year's end.
The session took more than 15 hours, and already politicians are talking about areas where they still see room for further improvement or alteration — but the document does at least stand in such a form where it can take effect without too many complications.
Including all spending plans, in the core budget and from the so-called "special funds" for infrastructure and military modernization, new debt constitutes around a third of total spending plans.
In total, the plan is to take out new debt worth just over €210 billion ($233 billion), while taking in a little less than €400 billion in taxes.
That's the second-highest level of new debt in the post-war history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Even at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2021, new debt was only slightly higher, at €215.4 billion.
We'll break down more of the details and cover some of the reactions in later posts.
Moin! Here's hoping you slept more and better than the Bundestag's budget committee.
