Berlin, July 2, 2026 (AFP)
Germany's ruling coalition has agreed on sweeping reforms, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday, a breakthrough aimed at reviving the struggling economy and countering the rise of the far right.
"We are working to increase the flexibility of our businesses," Merz told a press conference, after lengthy talks between his centre-right CDU party and their coalition partners, the centre-left SPD.
"We are working to cut red tape. We are working to protect our welfare state, and we are working to ease the burden on employees and companies by lowering taxes."
The package of reforms includes income tax cuts of a volume of 10 billion euros ($11.4bn), to be financed by increased taxes on the wealthy, as well as changes to the pension system that will eventually see the retirement age rise to 67.
The coalition parties had been struggling for months to agree on a series of thorny issues.
The government is also keen to show it can get to grips with the country's problems to diminish the appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has been topping national opinion polls for months.
Key elections are taking place in strongholds of the party in eastern Germany in September, which could produce the first-ever AfD-led state government.

Sumber : AFP