German conservative leader Friedrich Merz reached an agreement with the Green party on a debt-funded spending package for defense and infrastructure, overcoming a key hurdle ahead of a crunch vote in parliament next week.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz was set to make a last-ditch attempt on Friday to convince the Greens of his plans for a massive increase in state borrowing to bolster defence and infrastructure ahead of a parliamentary vote next week.

Under Germany's constitution, Merz needs a two-thirds majority to get the changes passed. With the support of the Greens and Social Democrats, he should succeed. Urgent motions by both the AfD and the Left to challenge next week's sessions of the outgoing parliament failed at the constitutional court on Friday, enabling the vote to go ahead.

Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz reached an agreement with the Greens party on a fiscal reform package for large investments on infrastructure and defense, according to a report by newspaper Handelsblatt.

The Greens vow to foil the chancellor-in-waiting’s historic plan to invest big in defense and infrastructure. But it may just be a negotiating gambit.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz reached a tentative agreement with the Green party on a debt-funded spending package for defense and infrastructure, people familiar with the discussions said.

Germany’s Greens are ready to negotiate and are hoping for an agreement by the end of this week in a dispute over defense spending with the country’s prospective next ruling coalition led by Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz.