Debt brake: The Merz turnaround damages the credibility of the Union

CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz is known for bold political maneuvers - and has also become notorious since voting with the AfD on migration policy. Merz's latest turnaround is also spectacular: The CDU leader is suddenly open to another special fund or a reform of the debt brake, even though he had largely rejected higher debt during the election campaign. Merz still wants to talk about it with the existing Bundestag, even though its legislative period ends in four weeks.

The reason for the rush is the blocking minority that the Left Party and AfD will have in the new parliament. This will make changes to the Basic Law difficult. Although there have been warnings about this scenario for months, Merz has always rejected offers of talks from the SPD and the Greens on the defense budget for purely electoral reasons. That was a mistake that is now taking its toll and will cost the Union credibility.

Yes, Merz had left a back door open during the election campaign and had shown himself willing to talk about the states' debt rules. CDU budget officials had also said behind closed doors that a second special fund for the Bundeswehr would make sense. But the Union never said this openly, even though it would have remained honest and lived up to its political responsibility.

Current budget funds will not be sufficient to finance the necessary increase in defense spending. Experts say the figure will be 300 billion euros - the Bundeswehr's special fund of 100 billion euros has as good as been spent.

In terms of content, the move is correct, but the damage will still be great. If Merz uses the old majorities to fill the coffers for the future, the very parties that are already putting him in a steep decline will make a scandal out of it: AfD and the Left.