The Bundestag will vote on the debt brake reform on 18 March but discussions on that will officially begin on 13 March, according to the report. So, put that down on your calendars just in case.

For such a proposal, it will require two-thirds majority to be approved. And the numbers making up that will have to be from both the Bundestag (lower house) and Bundesrat (upper house). In total, that translates to 489 out of 733 lawmakers. The current CDU and CSU alliance as well as the SPD can gather about 403 lawmakers. So, they will still need 86 more votes in their favour from the FDP and/or Greens.

The FDP is unlikely to back the reform and for now, the Greens are not yet fully on board. The latter most recently said that “whether we will ultimately approve these constitutional amendments remains open.. you know that we also have our own stance on what is necessary now”.