The federal government has agreed with the opposition CDU/CSU parliamentary group to create a special fund of 100 billion euros to better equip the Bundeswehr.

The talks were "successfully ended tonight", said the representatives of the SPD, Greens and FDP as well as the Union on Sunday evening via the Federal Ministry of Finance. Together with the Union, the traffic light coalition has the necessary two-thirds majority to to enshrine debt-financed special funds in the Basic Law.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced the billion-euro fund three days after the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The money is to be used to increase the regular defense budget of around 50 billion euros over several years.

Germany should thus meet the NATO goal of spending two percent of economic output on defense each year.

That would currently be around 70 billion euros.

With the anchoring in the Basic Law, the billion fund is exempt from the debt brake.

The fund is to be financed solely through new loans.