Under Germany's constitution, Merz needs a two-thirds majority to get the changes passed. With the support of the Greens and Social Democrats, he should succeed. Urgent motions by both the AfD and the Left to challenge next week's sessions of the outgoing parliament failed at the constitutional court on Friday, enabling the vote to go ahead.

Germany’s chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz has agreed a deal with the Green party to inject hundreds of billions into the country’s defence sector and ageing infrastructure, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

German lawmakers have reached an agreement to exempt some defense spending from the nation’s tight rules on running up debt.