The demands of the Union faction for the "special fund" for the Bundeswehr say much more than the "Cologne Declaration", where the CDU and CSU want to steer the country's security policy.
In its declaration, the Union is only presenting what is well known, which it propagated when it was in government, even if it was unable to convert it into government policy.
At best, what is new is that the Union can claim to have recognized the signs of the times even before Putin's great war and therefore does not have to change much.
Today more than ever, however, the CDU and CSU are reaching the limits set by the SPD, especially the Greens.
The Union faction is pushing for the two percent target
This is shown by the negotiations about the “special fund”, if you want to call them negotiations at all.
All the nice words about more responsibility for Germany, the new role in Europe and the world, about readjustment and a turning point have so far been lacking in action, if there is not even agreement on the equipment and role of the Bundeswehr.
The Greens demonstrated this again at the weekend.
Investing hundreds of billions of euros in the Bundeswehr without consistently aligning itself with NATO's goals is nothing more than a breather in decades of security policy decline.
That is why the Union faction is pushing for the two percent target, which must be permanently adhered to beyond the special fund.
It is not yet clear how Friedrich Merz intends to assert himself in the face of resistance from the SPD and the Greens.
Merz would like to make the vote on the amendment to the Basic Law a vote of confidence against Olaf Scholz.
However, it could also be directed against the leader of the opposition, if he had to declare that he wanted to revolutionize German security policy but, as a first step, would refuse to give the Bundeswehr the money to do so.
A trip to Kyiv, on the other hand, is far more fruitful politically.
Merz can overtake the chancellor for the first time.