Reform of the debt brake: Will this be the last act?

Only a few people believe that the debt brake will continue in its current form. The question is which Bundestag will address the issue: The Greens have shown themselves willing to reform the debt brake with a two-thirds majority in the old composition of the Bundestag. The current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has not rejected the proposal, referring to a similar approach during the Yugoslavian war in 1998, but stressed that cooperation with the CDU/CSU is necessary for this. This raises an interesting question for the CDU/CSU: use the closing window of opportunity or risk the reform in the next Bundestag, but only with concessions to the Left. Because the incoming government would be dependent on their votes for a two-thirds majority. Mark Schieritz , deputy head of the politics department at ZEIT, discusses the pros and cons in the podcast and whether the debt brake could really still be reformed at lightning speed.

The AfD won the election in the eastern German states. The party received 38.6 percent of the second votes in Thuringia, 37.8 percent in Saxony, 37.1 percent in Saxony-Anhalt, 35 percent in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and 32.5 percent in Brandenburg. But the party, which is in parts right-wing extremist, is now also successful in other parts of the country. ZEIT-ONLINE author Doreen Reinhard explains why the party has become increasingly stronger in the east in recent years and what other lessons can be learned from this election result.

And what else? Kölle queer

Moderation and production: Fabian Scheler

Editor: Simone Gaul

Collaboration: Mathias Peer and Paulina Kraft

And you can find all episodes of our podcast here . Questions, criticism, suggestions? You can reach us at [email protected] .