Merz agenda diluted in German coalition pact

The Financial Times reports that Friedrich Merz’s coalition deal falls short of bold reform, with CDU and SPD neutralizing each other’s ambitions. While the pact includes tax cuts and minimum wage hikes, economists call it underwhelming. Law professor at HEC Paris Business School Armin Steinbach notes that both parties kept each other in check, with the SPD extracting major concessions despite a weak electoral result​.