Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei is pushing for improvements to the draft for the tax on sweetened drinks planned by the black-red coalition. “There is a need for changes to Finance Minister Klingbeil’s draft law,” the CDU politician told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “We need transition periods so that beverage manufacturers can change their recipes.”
If they don't succeed, they would have to increase their prices, warned Frei. “This threatens them with competitive disadvantages and, in the end, perhaps job losses – which is what we don’t want.” In any case, there should be no new administrative positions for the sugar tax. In principle, the Union faction leader defended the planned extra tax on drinks with added sugar.
On Wednesday, the Federal Cabinet launched a proposal for the coalition factions to submit to the Bundestag. The head of the CSU MP in the Bundestag, Alexander Hoffmann, has already called for a later start date than previously planned so that companies can change their recipes - namely at the beginning of 2028 instead of July 2027.
The new tax will apply to sweetened drinks with a total sugar content of at least five grams per 100 milliliters. According to the Ministry of Finance, these include, for example, lemonades, iced teas, energy drinks and fruit juice drinks with added sugar. Drinks containing alcohol as well as non-alcoholic beers, wines or cocktails are not affected. Pure fruit and vegetable juices or unsweetened spritzers are not subject to additional tax, nor are drinks with sweeteners. The government is aiming for an exemption for all companies that produce a maximum of one million liters per year.
The federal government could collect 690 million euros from the tax next year, and 925 million are planned for 2028. The money should be used to keep the contributions for statutory health insurance stable. At the same time, the tax is intended to be an incentive for beverage manufacturers to reduce the sugar content in their products. “The sugar tax primarily serves health care,” argued Frei.
The Christian Democrats must reinvent themselves in order to remain a strong people's party, said Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Junge Union's Germany Day. “Germany will continue to need us in the future, but we have to justify it anew,” he said in Bonn against the backdrop of the Union’s declining poll numbers. Merz has recently lost significant authority in his party, particularly due to the series of defeats in the state elections in September. In contrast to the JU's Germany Day last year, he repeatedly received applause from the party youth during his speech.
With a view to the conflict-ridden cooperation with the SPD at the federal level, Merz said that he wanted “this coalition to be successful,” but that there were also “limits” for him. He does not place the “continuance of the coalition above every conceivable political achievement that we have to achieve together”. It must also be clear who “the bigger coalition partner is”.
Merz also used his appearance to make further comments about political competition. “Stop going down this path,” with these words he used during his appearance to warn the SPD and the Greens against collaborating with the Left in Berlin. “Anyone who wants to strengthen the political center must not hold talks with left-wing radicals,” said Merz, referring to the ongoing explorations in the capital, to applause from the delegates. The Union will fight against the left. “We stand up against anyone who questions Israel’s right to exist.” Anti-Semitism has no place in Germany, added Merz.
With regard to the feared support of his own party members for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, Merz threatened to be expelled from the party. “Anyone in our ranks who is of the opinion that such people should be elected to state office has no place in Germany’s CDU, absolutely nothing,” said Merz. The background is the assumption that CDU representatives in the new state parliament in Magdeburg could also have voted for the new state parliament president Tobias Rausch (AfD) in a secret election.
The number of conscientious objectors in Germany continues to rise at a rapid pace. From January to the end of September this year, almost 15,000 applications have already been received by the responsible Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks, as Funke media reports. This means that the number of applications is already almost four times higher than in the whole of 2025.
According to the information, one reason for the development is the entry into force of the new military service law at the beginning of the year. All German citizens receive questionnaires in the year they come of age to determine their suitability for military service.
Filling out the questionnaire is mandatory for men and voluntary for people with a different gender entry. In general, however, there is still no obligation to do military service. Nevertheless, men who are affected by possible conscription have the right to refuse to serve in the Bundeswehr as a precautionary measure.
The new Federal Labor Minister Alexander Schweitzer is striving for a “good compromise” in the dispute over early retirement without deductions after 45 years of contributions. “I am confident that we will succeed,” said the SPD politician from the Rhine Palatinate. The pension commission's proposals envisage abolishing the so-called pension at 63. Schweitzer, who was sworn in as minister on Wednesday, spoke out against the abolition in August.
He now said that the black-red coalition had agreed in the coalition agreement to generally maintain the pension without deductions after 45 years of contributions. Now the Old Age Security Commission has “made a proposal that deviates from this”. Some CDU prime ministers also criticized this, emphasized Schweitzer. “That’s why this will be exactly one of the issues where we have to sit down together and find a good compromise.”
Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has warned of hybrid attacks by Iran in Europe and threatened the leadership in Tehran with consequences. “Europe is in Iran’s crosshairs,” Wadephul said at a press conference with Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel in Berlin on Friday. At the same time, the minister welcomed a ruling by the Hamburg Higher Regional Court, which on Thursday sentenced two men with connections to Iran to several years in prison for attempted assassinations of Jews in Germany. Wadephul announced a reaction from the federal government.
“We do not accept Iran’s hostile activities that are directed against Jews here in Germany and our open society as a whole,” said Wadephul. “It is good that the attempted assassinations against Josef Schuster and Volker Beck and Iran’s role behind this state-directed terror were so clearly identified.”
The Bundestag has decided to introduce an early start pension. In the future, children and young people between the ages of six and 18 will receive ten euros per month from the state - as start-up capital for private retirement provision. The Federal Council still has to approve the law.
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) spoke of good news for families and children in Germany. “We support parents in making provisions for their children at an early age.” Financial education will also be strengthened: “In the future, all children will learn much earlier about how they can save for their own future.”
Cigarettes are likely to become significantly more expensive in Germany in the coming years. With the votes of the coalition factions from the Union and the SPD, the Bundestag voted for an amendment to the law that will gradually increase the tobacco tax in the coming years. Since this tax collection is passed on to customers, the price is expected to rise from currently around eight euros per pack of 20 cigarettes to just under 12 euros in 2030.
According to a media report, the federal government wants to enter into a partnership with the US chip company Nvidia in order to help artificial intelligence (AI) achieve a breakthrough in the industry. Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang planned to announce the cooperation on Monday at the “Invest in Germany” investment summit in Berlin, Handelsblatt reports, citing government and industry circles. The federal government is prepared to invest a three-digit million amount in the project.
