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German Balanced Budget Amendment
Germany's balanced budget amendment, also referred to as the debt brake ('), is a fiscal rule enacted in 2009 by the First Merkel cabinet. The law, which is in Article 109, paragraph 3 and Article 115 of the Basic Law, Germany's constitution, is designed to restrict structural budget deficits at the federal level and limit the issuance of government debt. The rule restricts annual structural deficits to 0.35% of GDP. The debt brake is controversial among economists. It is supported by a German strand of economics, ordoliberalism, while other economists have challenged the rule. In 2024, amid a stagnating German economy, Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel called on the German government to reform the debt brake in order to finance structural investments in the German economy. The debt brake has been amended twice since enactment, in 2022 and in 2025, both under the Scholz cabinet in the 21st Bundestag and both for the purpose of significantly increasing defense spending. Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Merkel Cabinet
The First Merkel cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Merkel I'') was the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany from 22 November 2005 to 27 October 2009 throughout the 16th legislative session of the Bundestag. Led by Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, the first female Chancellor in German history, the cabinet was supported by a grand coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). It was installed following the 2005 federal election and succeeded the second Schröder cabinet. It ceased to function after the formation of second Merkel cabinet, which was installed after the 2009 federal elections and sworn in on 28 October 2009. Composition The federal cabinet consisted of the following ministers: Formation of the grand coalition Neither the coalitions of the CDU/CSU and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) nor the ruling SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens had the vote of a maj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig. Its capital city is Kiel; other notable cities are Lübeck and Flensburg. It covers an area of , making it the 5th smallest German federal state by area (including the city-states). Historically, the name can also refer to a larger region, containing both present-day Schleswig-Holstein and the former South Jutland County (Northern Schleswig; now part of the Region of Southern Denmark) in Denmark. Schleswig, named South Jutland at the time, was under Danish control during the Viking Age, but in the 12th century it became a duchy within Denmark due to infighting in the Danish Royal House. It bordered Holstein, which was a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Beginning in 1460, the King of Denmark ruled both Schleswig and Holstein as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative For Germany
Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence agency, had classified the party as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavour". This classification was temporarily suspended by the BfV a week after its announcement in May 2025. The report that led to the classification was later leaked to the public. The federal branch of the AfD has been under surveillance since a court ruling in 2022 after it was classified by the domestic intelligence as a "suspected extremist party" in 2021. This classification of a party represented in the federal parliament was a first in the history of Germany. Its name reflects its resistance to the mainstream policies of Angela Merkel a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party (, FDP, ) is a liberalism, liberal political party in Germany. The FDP was founded in 1948 by members of former liberal political parties in Germany before World War II, namely the German Democratic Party and the German People's Party. For most of the second half of the 20th century, particularly from 1961 to 1982, the FDP held the Balance of power (parliament), balance of power in the Bundestag. It has been a junior coalition partner to both the CDU/CSU (1949–1956, 1961–1966, 1982–1998, and 2009–2013) and Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD; 1969–1982 and 2021–2024). In the 2013 German federal election, 2013 federal election, the FDP failed to win any directly elected seats in the Bundestag and came up short of the Electoral threshold#Germany, 5 percent threshold to qualify for list representation, being left without representation in the Bundestag for the first time in its history. In the 2017 German federal el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deutsche Welle
(; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service consists of channels in English, Spanish, and Arabic. The work of DW is regulated by the Act, stating that content is intended to be independent of government influence. DW is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). DW offers regularly updated articles on its news website and runs its own centre for international media development, DW Akademie. The broadcaster's stated goals are to produce reliable news coverage, provide access to the German language, and promote understanding between peoples. It is also a provider of live streaming world news, which, like all DW programs, can be viewed and listened via its website, YouTube, satellite, rebroadcasting and various apps and digital media players. DW has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties ( ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian democratic and conservative political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). The CSU contests elections only in Bavaria, while the CDU operates in the other 15 states of Germany. The CSU also reflects the particular concerns of the largely rural, Catholic south."Christian Democrat Union/Christian Social Union" Country Studies, Germany. Retrieved 18 December 2016. While the two Christian Democratic parties are commonly described as sister parties, they have shared a common parliamentary group, the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, in the German |
Federal Constitutional Court
The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-World War II republic, the court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, which is also the seat of the Federal Court of Justice. The main task of the Federal Constitutional Court is judicial review, and it may declare legislation unconstitutional, thus rendering them ineffective. In this respect, it is similar to other supreme courts with judicial review powers, yet the court possesses a number of additional powers and is regarded as among the most interventionist and powerful national courts in the world. Unlike other supreme courts, the constitutional court is not an integral stage of the judicial or appeals process (aside from cases concerning constitutional or public international law), and does not serve as a regular appellate court ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traffic Light Coalition
In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, yellow, and green, matching the colour sequence of a traffic light (''Ampel''). So far, the only instance of a traffic light coalition on a federal level in Germany has been in Olaf Scholz' cabinet between 2021 and its collapse over disagreements in November 2024. The term is also used for similar coalitions between social democrats, liberals and greens in other countries. History At a state level, early traffic light coalitions occurred in Brandenburg between 1990 and 1994 and in Bremen between 1991 and 1995. Negotiations to form such a coalition following the 2001 Berlin state election were not successful; likewise, preliminary talks after the 2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election led to no result. A traffic light coalition w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was established in London in 1851 by Paul Reuter. The Thomson Corporation of Canada acquired the agency in a 2008 corporate merger, resulting in the formation of the Thomson Reuters Corporation. In December 2024, Reuters was ranked as the 27th most visited news site in the world, with over 105 million monthly readers. History 19th century Paul Julius Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions of 1848. These publications brought much attention to Reuter, who in 1850 developed a prototype news service in Aachen using homing pigeons and electric telegraphy from 1851 on, in order to transmit messages between Brussels and Aachen, in what today is Aa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thousands of Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War, military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, civilian casualties. As of 2025, Russian troops Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupy about 20% of Ukraine. From a population of 41 million, about 8 million Ukrainians had been internally displaced and more than 8.2 million Ukrainian refugee crisis, had fled the country by April 2023, creating Europe's List of largest refugee crises, largest refugee crisis since World War II. In late 2021, Russia Prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, massed troops near Ukraine's borders and December 2021 Russian ultimatum to NATO, issued demands to the Western world, West i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Germany, vice chancellor in the fourth Merkel cabinet and as Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany), Federal Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also List of mayors of Hamburg, First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018, deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019, and Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2007 to 2009. Scholz began his career as a lawyer specialising in labour and employment law. He became a member of the SPD in the 1970s and was a member of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2011. Scholz served in the Government of Hamburg, Hamburg Government under List of mayors of Hamburg, First Mayor Ortwin Runde in 2001 and became Social Democratic Party of Germany, general secr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021 German Federal Election
The 2021 German federal election was held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, chose not to run again, marking the first time that an incumbent Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany did not seek re-election. With 25.7% of total votes, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) recorded their best result since 2005, and emerged as the largest party for the first time since 2002. The ruling CDU/CSU, which had led a grand coalition with the SPD since 2013, recorded their worst ever result with 24.1%, a significant decline from 32.9% in 2017. Alliance 90/The Greens achieved their best result in history at 14.7%, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) made small gains and finished on 11.4%. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) fell from third to fifth place with 10.4%, a decline of 2.3 percentage points. The Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
