Overview
- The government targets an industrial electricity price of five cents per kilowatt-hour for 2026–2028, with EU talks described as largely complete and an estimated €3–5 billion cost to be drawn from the Climate and Transformation Fund.
- Leaders agreed to tender 8 gigawatts of new gas-fired capacity in 2026, with plants slated to be operational by 2031 to backstop a renewables-heavy grid.
- A new Deutschlandfonds was announced to mobilize private capital for energy infrastructure, startups and other strategic sectors, though no funding size or detailed design has been set out.
- The air travel ticket tax will be reduced effective July 1, 2026, a change Chancellor Merz said amounts to roughly €350 million.
- Economists and industry voices criticized the package as a temporary stopgap lacking investment certainty, and unresolved disputes over pension reform and the combustion‑engine phase‑out—highlighted by resistance from CDU ‘Junge Gruppe’ MPs and a surprise late‑night pledge by the chancellor—leave implementation uncertain.