Chancellor Merz concluded his inaugural government declaration, overall remaining close to his CDU/CSU/SPD coalition agreement. Generally, he highlighted making competitiveness a key parameter in economic policy, preserving jobs in industrial manufacturing, and budget consolidation (increasing efficiency of measures) as key goals for his administration. Concrete measures announced include the below:
- Accelerated depreciation on private investment: 30% of acquisition costs deductible per year over 3 years, starting to reduce enterprise taxes in 2028
- Imposition of a 12-year infrastructure package
- New free trade initiative proposed in the EU (mentioning MERCOSUR, US)
- Enabling enterprise formation within 24 hours
- Reduction of reporting obligations for enterprises
- Introduction of an 'early start-retirement pension' (Frühstartrente; from 2026, children from age 6 receive E10/month in an individual, publically funded and privately managed retirement savings account. Fiscal costs costs would amount to ca. E1bln/year)
- CO2 pricing as a core component of climate policy, revenues should not flow into the budget but be distributed Sticking to European climate targets
- Maximum weekly working hours instead of daily maximum to increase labour flexibility
- Government believes the E15/h minimum wage by 2026 is achievable and desirable, but will not enshrine the goal in law - minimum wage commission remains in place
- "Trusting" the agricultural sector: Relying on voluntary action and personal responsibility of farms (this announcement saw a positive reaction in German chemical equities)
- Prioritizing integrating immigrants into the labor market as quickly as possible
- More collective bargaining in the labour market
- Intensify cooperation with Asian partners (mentioning China, some other APAC countries)
- Deepening cooperation with UK on defence
Next in the German domestic politics calendar will be finance minister's announcement of updated tax estimates tomorrow - Handelsblatt sources flagged this will result in a downward revision following lower GDP forecasts ('GERMANY: German Tax Revenue Estimates To Be Downwardly Revised - HB' - May 13).