Summary
After a lively, sometimes rowdy, German Bundestag debate, this is what we learnt:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will ask for a vote of confidence on 16 December, paving the way forward for an early parliamentary election in February.
Striking an unusually fiery tone, Scholz said he was right to fire Christian Lindner as his finance minister last week, triggering the collapse of his three-party coalition and early elections.
The German chancellor urged all parties to pass outstanding bills on child benefit and fiscal drag. He also called for greater protection of the German Constitutional court, which mainstream parties fear could be damaged, if the far-right and far-left make gains in the elections and seek to block appointments to the court.
Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who polls suggest will become Germany’s next chancellor, denounced Scholz’s record. He also pledged to backtrack Germany’s climate policies and expel migrants at the border as part of a “totally different” approach to migration.
Earlier in the day, Merz indicated openness to reform of Germany’s debt brake, strict spending limits enshrined in the constitution that ultimately tore apart the outgoing coalition. It could be a significant step from a fiscal hawk, but we don’t know yet what he has in mind.
In her contribution Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock was forced on the defensive after her Green co-leader Robert Habeck had to miss the debate because a broken-down government plane kept him grounded in Lisbon.
Ousted finance minister Christian Lindner defended his approach to the debt brake, the issue that broke the government apart.
Far-right leader Alice Weidel lambasted the government and opposition in an angry speech, where she outlined her policies of deporting all undocumented migrants in Germany, reversing the planned ban on combustion engines and continuing to burn coal.
This brings an end to our live coverage. Thank you for following today and don’t forget to check out all our coverage of Germany.
The leader of the far right Alternative für Deutschland party Alice Weidel has given an angry speech, spitting in rage and frustration at both Olaf Scholz’s government and the opposition conservatives, who she said had collaborated as architects in the downfall of Germany.
She pledged a 100 day plan, should the AfD get into government which would overturn the main policies introduced by Scholz’s government. The most headline making of them, is her pledge to immediately instigate a mass deportation of all undocumented migrants in Germany, in what commentators have compared to the policies Donald Trump is expected to enact when he enters office.
Weidel also pledged the reinstatement of Germany’s defunct nuclear power stations, the continued use of its coal fired power plants, a reversal of the planned ban on combustion engines, an overturn of gender policies and a controlled use of cannabis, among other u-turn promises.
She described Scholz’s government as “headless” and “lacking in dignity” and accused it of failing to demonstrate an ounce of humility to accept it had driven Germany into the economic turmoil it finds itself in.
The AfD leader described Merz as a potential “ersatz Scholz” and no alternative to the current government, saying he and his colleagues had been among the main authors of the chaos Germany found itself in now.
The CDU’s “mother of sins”, she said, had been allowing millions of refugees into the country, under the 16 year leadership of Angela Merkel. She described this “flood” of people as having consisted of largely criminal, lazy newcomers, who were a burden to ordinary Germans, robbing them of their chance of prosperity and safety. She referred to Merkel, as “the best chancellor the Greens ever had,” a dig at Merkel’s sympathy for environmental concerns.
Leaning into the podium from which she spoke, digging her heels into the floor, as she moved forwards and backwards, Weidel’s angry shouts were met with applause and cries of support from her fellow party members.
She said Germans “just want normality and they have a right to that”, but they would only get this if the AfD was - as the second most popular party in the Bundestag - allowed to participate in a government, something which all mainstream parties have ruled out.
The debate continues in the Bundestag, but it is unlikely to get a more provocative speech than that delivered by Weidel. Once again, is a foretaste of the election campaign to come over the coming months.
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Germany’s ousted finance minister, Christian Lindner, leader of the pro-business FDP, which departed the government last Wednesday, has just taken to the podium delivering a speech which was received with stormy applause from his own ranks, and enthusiastically by the conservatives.
Referring to his sacking by Scholz, Lindner said: “Sometimes being relieved of something is freeing”.
He says the government of Scholz has collapsed because the chancellor is treating Germany as if it were a completely different country to the reality as Lindner sees it. Scholz does not appear to be listening, instead, demonstratively turns to talk to his ministers Wolfgang Schmidt and Boris Pistorius, who are sitting behind him. Lindner offers the extra dig at Scholz: “If you only go round in a circle, you can’t expect to lead a coalition of progress”.
He vehemently defends his course to protect the mechanisms of the German debt brake in the constitution - the row over which led to the collapse of the government.
He leaves the podium to rousing applause, returning to his seat next to Merz, in whose government he might get a position, again as finance minister, if his FDP manages to poll above the 5% mark, the threshold needed to get into parliament. Currently it is hovering around or below that crucial figure.
Annalena Baerbock of the Greens, and Germany’s foreign minister, has stepped in for her colleague Robert Habeck, economy minister and deputy chancellor, who, embarrassingly and inconveniently at such a historic moment, is stuck in Lisbon due to his government plane breaking down.
Baerbock takes the bull by the horns on this one, knowing that the government is going to get a lot of stick for this. A member of the AfD shouts the question: “why didn’t he take a cargo bike?” in a dig at the Greens’ push for car and plane-free mobility. Baerbock scoffs at this and suggests they can now save themselves from using this as an election slogan.
Baerbock stresses again the government’s support for Ukraine, and says as the world gets more complicated, with drone attacks on Ukraine likely to get heftier over Christmas, and Putin caring not a jot about the German election results, Germany has to continue to recognise the particular responsibility it has in the times ahead, to contribute to international security.
She says if asked by her kids in 10 years time, what Germany did, and did Europe act collaboratively, she wanted to say it had acted responsibly and helped to strengthen security.
The new US administration would not make life easier, she said, at the same time as stressing that it was a choice of US voters that had to be respected. Germany’s answer had to be to work in a spirit of cooperation with other countries, she said.
“Our answer to America First cannot be Germany First, as some here have suggested,” she said. “But Europe United - with a strong Germany.”
Merz accused Scholz of dividing Germany, in contrast to what Scholz himself has just stated – the desire he has to stop a US-style polarisation of the country - and of having lost touch with reality.
The opposition leader complained of artificial intelligence generated images of himself doing the rounds on social media, although he doesn’t go into detail. He said the fact that they are being distributed online by members of Scholz’s SPD is an indication, of “foretaste of the type of election campaign” to come, accusing the SPD of being prepared to strike below the belt. Scholz, donning black spectacles, peers at his mobile phone and doesn’t react to the accusation.
Merz’s speech is met by rousing applause from the benches of his conservatives.
Updated
Merz received warm and sustained applause after his speech.
Now up is Green party co-leader and German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock.
Merz calls for totally different approach to migration
Friedrich Merz has said Germany needs a totally different approach to migration policy.
He said a new government must regain control over migration with expulsions at the border.
It is a handbrake turn on the approach of his predecessor Angela Merkel, whose open-door to Syrian refugees in 2015 contributed to more than a million asylum seekers arriving in the EU that year.
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Merz announces plans to backtrack on climate action
Friedrich Merz is laying into the AfD, sitting in flamboyant, fiery and rambunctious mode to his right hand side, repeating with a jab of his finger in his direction, his pledge that he would, as chancellor, never work together with the party.
This will come as a relief to those who have sometimes feared there was a crack in the firewall that CDU members and other mainstream parties have erected in insisting there will be no cooperation with the far-right populists.
Merz in almost the same breath, lays into Scholz, saying that Germany needs a “completely different type of politics”, that this is “urgently needed”.
He announces, like a quick fire shopping list, his plans to backtrack on the government’s climate policies, to tackle immigration control, to boost Germany’s status as a modern transport hub, its digital standards.
He accuses Scholz of only now reaching out for cooperation from the CDU/CSU, at a time when it wants to bring its government to a more graceful close, but says he will not play ball.
He says cooperation can only take place once Scholz has faced the vote of confidence in parliament - on December 16.
He again makes a dig at the AfD, angrily asking: “Is that all you’re capable of? Screaming at us from the sidelines?”
Opposition leader Merz says Scholz 'from another cosmos'
Friedrich Merz, chancellor in waiting, takes to the podium, and it’s clear from the start that he is trying to separate himself from Scholz as much as possible, even as Scholz called on him to help his government to push through outstanding legislation which was for the good of the nation.
Merz slapped Scholz down saying he was “not from this world”, but “from another cosmos”. He criticised his behaviour in the run up to his government’s collapse. Merz, a lawyer and investment banker who has been waiting for this moment his whole political career, is presenting himself as the diametrical opposite of Scholz, in what is effectively the opening salvo of what is going to be a heated election campaign.
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Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democrats, is now speaking and getting a warm reception from some in the chamber.
He was officially nominated as his party’s candidate in September, putting him in poll position to be Germany’s next chancellor.
A former BlackRock executive, he is a fiscal conservative, who is seen as impulsive even by his allies.
Towards the end of his speech, in which Scholz avoided being interrupted by cat calls and jibes from the AfD benches, he spoke of having just read a book by US author and journalist Ezra Klein, Why We Are Polarised - an analysis of political polarisation. He warns of what has happened in the US being repeated in Germany, but saying as a democrat, he will not let that happen. He says polarisation is the “political business model” of certain parties in the Bundestag, a pointed reference to the far-right AfD.
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Scholz confirms no Taurus missiles for Ukraine
In his speech, which has just finished, Scholz - referred to a telephone call he held with US president-elect Trump on Sunday evening, describing it as “a good discussion”. Defending his government’s record he touches in particular on its support of Ukraine, saying Germany has contributed to helping the conflict not to escalate. But he confirms he will not bow to demands for Germany to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, even as Merz has suggested he is planning to do just that if he becomes chancellor.
He is receiving warm, but certainly not rapturous support, from the benches of his SPD.
Noted: This post was amended at 15.37 CET to clarify the nature of the technology.
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Scholz has finished speaking and a large part of the chamber warmly applauded.
Now it’s Friedrich Merz…
Scholz is speaking in a confident and defiant tone, justifying his decision to oust finance minister Christian Lindner, saying it was right, even as he acknowledges, it has led to a change in Germany’s political landscape.
He calls on Germany’s democrats, regardless of their political persuasion, to work together on issues that are important for Germany, “which cannot wait”. He touches on issues his government is still working on, including an initiative to boost growth, plans to increase child support payments and measures to protect the country’s highest instance, the constitutional court.
The members of the AfD - whose benches to the right of Scholz are full - is loud and rowdy, expressing its disapproval of Scholz.
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Olaf Scholz stresses he’ll need the support of the opposition CDU to push through remaining government reforms before parliament is dissolved. He strongly implies that if these issues - including tax reforms proposed by his former finance minister and an increase in child support payments - are not passed, the CDU will be to blame.
Scholz calls for stronger protection of constitutional court
Olaf Scholz has said there are “urgent topics” where Germany’s parties can reach agreement before the elections. He calls on parties to agree to increase child benefits, and legislate to tackle fiscal drag – when inflation lifts taxpayers into paying higher rates.
Significantly, he also calls for stronger protection of the Germany’s constitutional court.
The court is seen as vulnerable if the far-right and radical left win a third of seats in parliament after elections, as polls suggest they might.
Mainstream parties fear that the far-right Alternative für Deutschland and the nationalist far-left Sahra Wagenknecht alliance could unite to block appointments to the court, slowing down the wheels of justice.
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Scholz has taken the podium to applause and immediately said it was “necessary, right and unavoidable” to sack his finance minister, and he is grateful that the new election date is set for the end of February.
Scholz confirms vote of confidence dates, paving way for elections
Olaf Scholz - unusually fiery and determined in tone - confirms that he will submit an application for a vote of confidence in his government on December 11, to be held on 16 December, to pave way for the 23 February election. “Let us, for the good of the country, work together until the new election,” he appeals to members of the Bundestag, insisting his government will continue its work, despite only having a minority since the departure of the FDP.
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Here are some images from the Bundestag ahead of the debate.
Olaf Scholz looks relaxed as he talks to Friedrich Merz, the man who could replace him as chancellor, and Christian Lindner, the erstwhile finance minister he fired last week.
As Kate Connolly writes
The Bundestag is full to the rafters for this significant occasion. Everyone who is anyone is inside the glass-domed hall. Scholz, who has greeted his party and government colleagues with a handshake, is due to take to the podium at 1.20pm local time. He has also shaken the hands of Friedrich Merz, his arch rival and likely future German chancellor, as well as his former finance minister Christian Lindner, who is sitting shoulder to shoulder with Merz. The mood between the men is surprisingly cordial.
Here is another image of Lindner, who has said he expects Friedrich Merz to be Germany’s next chancellor.
And here is defence minister Boris Pistorius, who is far more popular than Scholz and is the favoured SPD chancellor candidate for some, but not expected to run.
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MPs in the Bundestag have risen to their feet, as Bundestag session opens.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to speak at 13.30 CET/ 12.30 GMT.
You can follow it live here
The German parliament is bracing itself for a showdown of its main players, following a week of political turmoil. Sparked by the collapse of the German coalition over a lengthy row focused on how to balance the books and fill a multi-billion Euro hole in next year’s budget, Europe’s biggest economy now faces weeks of political uncertainty as it gears up for snap elections. These are due to take place on February 23, following a vote of confidence on December 16, which Olaf Scholz, the chancellor is expected to lose, paving the way for the elections.
The eyes of many European political observers are on the parliament this lunchtime. Scholz is due to speak for half an hour, and is expected to attempt to justify why he considered it necessary to oust his finance minister Christian Lindner, of the pro-business FDP, thus triggering the early election, particularly at a time of national crisis, inextricably linked with an array of unprecedented global challenges, not least events unfolding in Washington following the re-election there of president elect Donald Trump.
Scholz is also expected to lay out the successes of his coalition government amid all the criticisms, in what will effectively be his first election campaign speech.
Because, to the astonishment of outside observers in particular, Scholz is standing again as his Social Democrats’ chancellor candidate, despite the fact he is currently ranked 19 out of 20 in a popularity rating of politicians amongst German voters. His nickname is ‘komakanzler’ or coma chancellor - considered a lame duck by many despite his promise to push through important legislation before his administration is replaced.
His speech will be followed by a much anticipated address by the conservative opposition’s Friedrich Merz, who is waiting in the wings and widely expected to become the next German chancellor, after years and years of trying to scale the heights.
Annalena Baerbock of the Greens, the foreign minister in Scholz’s administration, will follow. Her colleague Robert Habeck is stuck in Lisbon following an international digital congress, after the government plane he was due to return to Berlin in, in time for this historical moment, broke down.
It is the latest in a string of problems which have regularly grounded the government’s aircraft fleet in recent years, and is seen as a veritable metaphor for the crisis Germany currently finds itself in.
Attention will then be on Lindner, the slighted finance minister, who is still smarting from his unceremonious dismissal from the Scholz administration, and vowing a comeback, if his FDP can get over the 5% threshold needed to get into parliament, as junior coalition partner to the conservatives.
There then follows Alice Weidel, head of the far-right populist AfD, which has been making hay from the government debacle, and is riding high in the polls - second behind Merz’s CDU/CSU - emboldened in addition by what analysts are referring to as the ‘Trump Effect’, with many of the party’s policies aligned with those of the Trump team.
We’re expecting an unusually lively debate.
Updated
And in case you are wondering, we are still waiting for Scholz’s address to the Bundestag to begin. The start time is now forecast for 13.30 CET/ 12.30 GMT.
Opposition leader signals debt brake reform
Germany’s possible next chancellor Friedrich Merz has indicated some openness to reform of his country’s debt brake, in what could be a significant development for the EU’s largest economy.
Merz has always been a strict advocate of the debt brake, but appeared not to rule out reform of the mechanism that requires government spending to stay within strict limits.
According to Der Spiegel, the CDU leader described the debt brake as “a technical issue, you can answer it one way or the other”.
Of course you can reform it. The question is, why? For what purpose? What is the result of such a reform? Is the result that we spend even more money on consumption and social policy? Then the answer is no…Is the result that it is important for investment, it is important for progress, it is important for the livelihood of our children? Then the answer may be different.
Germany’s commitment to the debt brake in an age of escalating pressures for government spending proved to be the undoing of Scholz’s coalition. But it is too early to say what Merz has in mind.
Why a February election?
Basically the chancellor and the opposition agreed to split the difference. Olaf Scholz wanted to hold off a poll until March, but the opposition CDU-CSU were pressing for January, the earliest possible poll.
After a debate about whether there would be enough paper to print ballots, political parties settled on 23 February. You can read the full background here.
As the political scientist Nicolai von Ondarza has commented, that is still pretty slow. As he writes “confronted with severe geopolitical and economic challenges” Germany is “still doing it the slow way”.
Don’t forget after the elections, come the coalition talks, which could last until Easter or beyond, leaving Europe’s largest economy - and the EU’s indispensable decision maker - in limbo for months.
You don’t have to be fluent in Hochdeutsch to appreciate the wonderful flexibility of the German language. And the government crisis has produced a new word for the dictionaries: ‘Komakanzler’. Best translated as the comatose chancellor, the label has been used by opposition conservatives to describe Olaf Scholz after the collapse of his government.
Hat tip Kate Connolly.
If you want to follow Scholz’s address and the debate, you can watch the Bundestag live stream here. The session begins at 13.00 CET (noon GMT)
Want to know more about how the German government got to this point?
Bookmark the latest episode of Today in Focus, where Der Spiegel journalist Regina Steffens and author John Kampfner explain how the traffic-light coalition came to an end.
Titled the Briefcase, the Porsche and the collapse of the German government, it looks at the deep structural problems in German politics and Europe’s biggest economy.
I would also highly recommend Philip Oltermann’s profile of vice chancellor Robert Habeck, published in September 2023. It’s a fascinating portrait of an idealist in power.
Why is Germany having an election seven months earlier than expected?
The heart of the problem is a long-running dispute over economic policy between the coalition partners, against a backdrop of intense pressure on Germany’s economic model.
The liberal Free Democratic (FDP) party led by ousted finance minister Christian Linder refused to countenance changes to Germany’s debt brake - a constitutional mechanism that restricts Germany’s annual deficit to 0.35% of gross domestic product over the economic cycle.
Scholz and his Social Democrats, supported by the Greens, wanted to declare a state of emergency to suspend the debt brake; fiscally-hawkish Lindner refused. The row comes amid intense pressure on Germany to spend more to fix its dilapidated or outdated infrastructure and meet the demands for greater defence spending.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Scholz spoke of a Zeitenwende, a turning point, but critics say he has failed to respond to the magnitude of the moment.
This article by Kate Connolly is a useful backgrounder on the budget crisis – look out for the the Swabian housewife and the Sparfuchs, the ‘savings fox’ or ‘skimper’.
And the UK think tank Chatham House has an interesting read on the problems facing Germany’s economic model: The break-up of Scholz’s coalition government signals the end of Germany’s old economic model
Opposition conservatives lead polls
The opposition CDU/CSU alliance is comfortably ahead in the race to become the largest political force, according to the latest opinion poll from Forsa.
Based on a survey last week, it shows the CDU/CSU, far ahead of their nearest rivals, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, which looks set to become the main opposition.
As expected from last June’s European elections, Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens will shed votes, while the pro-business FDP could fail to meet the 5% threshold to enter parliament (although there are some exceptions to help smaller parties around this rule).
This means the CDU/CSU would be in the driving seat to form another coalition, while the AfD would be Germany’s main opposition.
CDU/CSU – 33%
AfD – 17%
SPD 16%
Greens 11%
Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht 5%
FDP 4%
Linke (left) 3%
You can see the results via Europe Elects here
Updated
German chancellor Olaf Scholz to address Bundestag for first time since government collapsed
Greetings, it’s midday in Berlin and German chancellor Olaf Scholz will soon address the Bundestag for the first time since his government collapsed, firing the starting gun on his election campaign.
For months Germany has been hamstrung by the weakness of its squabbling three-way coalition government, leaving allies lamenting that Europe’s most powerful country and largest economy was unable to take big decisions. That changed last week, when Scholz sacked his finance minister, the pro-business liberal leader, Christian Lindner, triggering the end of the coalition and early elections.
Germany will go to the polls on 23 February, following an agreement on Tuesday between Scholz’s Social Democrat party and the conservative CDU/CSU opposition.
Under the deal, Scholz will table a no-confidence vote on 16 December - one month earlier than he had originally wanted - paving the way for early elections.
Scholz is due to speak for 30 minutes from 1pm CET (noon GMT), followed by two hours of debate. We can expect to hear plenty from Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition CDU party, who is in poll position to become Germany’s next chancellor.
Robert Habeck, Scholz’s deputy, however, will not be at the debate, as his government plane has broken down and he is stuck in Lisbon (where he was attending a digital conference). As our Berlin correspondent Kate Connolly writes: “All this fits neatly of course into the narrative of a broken Germany”.
