During the general debate on the 2027 budget in the German Bundestag, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for the country to take its future into its own hands, shape it and make it better. The aim, he said, was “to ensure that our children and grandchildren once again have hope for the future and good prospects ahead.” 

For this purpose, he said, freedom in Germany would continue to be defended and security strengthened in response to external and internal threats. He went on to say that it would only be possible to fulfil these tasks with a strong economy. The Chancellor emphasised that the economic growth of 1.3 percent forecast for 2026 showed that Germany was on the right path.

The Federal Chancellor spoke about issues including…

…the economy

The Chancellor said that the Federal Government had made decisions that would enable economic growth to resume in Germany, while stressing that further reforms remained necessary. The burden on companies caused by high energy costs and red tape needed to continue to be reduced. Merz called on Germany to be at the forefront of technological development during the “fourth industrial revolution” brought about by artificial intelligence. He said that a task force had been set up for this purpose within the Federal Government and that the “large-scale” construction of data centres had already been provided for.

…security policy

The Federal Chancellor emphasised that recent events had shown that Germany needed to improve its resilience and defence capabilities. Ukraine, he said, needed to be given further support, since it was also “defending our freedom”. Merz also announced the further strengthening of civil defence, public protection and disaster response. The Federal Government had promised the states 100 billion euros for this purpose, he reported. It both wanted and needed to follow through on this to make society more secure as a whole. The Chancellor said that this was ultimately what people in Germany expected from politicians: “They want security in the face of external threats. They want security in the face of internal threats.”

…the secure supply of energy

Federal Chancellor Merz stressed that the Federal Government was correcting mistakes in relation to energy policy development, for instance by ensuring the construction of gas-fired power plants and the secure supply of energy in the future – “with regenerative energies and not without them”. Merz also underlined that there were clear signs that there was a secure supply of energy in Germany – particularly of gas – for the winter. 

…the future of the younger generations

According to Federal Chancellor Merz, the aim of the comprehensive reforms was to enable the renewal of the promise of prosperity to the younger generations. He stressed: “We have to offer young people the prospects that at least three generations before them have enjoyed in Germany. That is the aim of our policies.” The Chancellor went on to say that reforms would serve cohesion, “progress and the further development of our country in freedom and in peace”.