Can the Old Parliament Change the Constitution?
In the pre-negotiation talks for coalition formation, CDU/CSU and SPD decided on far ranging plans to invest in infrastructure and military spending. This happens with the background of an announced reduction in international support by the United States. To make this spending increase possible, the German Constitution with its mandatory debt brake has to be amended. Such change of the Constitution requires a 2/3-majority in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. In the newly elected – but not yet constituted – Bundestag, such a majority will require support of Die Linke. Therefore, the (likely) future coalition attemps to make the decision in the old Bundestag. On Radio 3 of the public radio station “Radio Berlin Brandenburg” Sven T. Siefken discussed the legality, precedence and legitimacy of this plan. You can listen to it here:
