Overview
- On an inaugural visit to Schwerin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz assured federal completion and financing of the Peenebrücke/Ortsumgehung Wolgast, a project now costed at about €500 million and expected to finish in 2028.
- Merz acknowledged calls for stronger federal backing of northern ports and noted concerns over EU plans to centralize cohesion funds, without offering specific new commitments.
- Swiss medtech firm Ypsomed is expanding its Schwerin site with more than €500 million and plans to double staffing to roughly 1,000 by 2030, a project highlighted during the visit.
- The SPD leadership approved a pro-industry package that includes pushing an industrial electricity price from January 1, 2026, which still requires EU coordination and funding clarity.
- In Brandenburg, the BSW faction says it will mostly vote against two media-state treaties on public broadcasting reform and youth protection, leaving the SPD–BSW coalition short of its own majority, though passage with CDU votes remains possible before a late-November deadline.