Germany: Merz coalition's reform package — €10bn tax cut, reporting duties abolished by default

The CDU/SPD coalition committee agreed a fuller reform catalogue: €10bn of income-tax relief, a restructured top rate (45% above €250k, 47% above €280k), pension-commission recommendations by end-2026, and — most striking — statutory reporting obligations to state bodies abolished by default, surviving only if a ministry explicitly justifies them. A welfare-fraud action plan centres on cross-agency data-sharing.

A reverse-onus approach to red tape — abolish everything unless a minister defends it — is a sharper deregulation mechanism than any UK "one-in-two-out" rule.