Germany's Merz coalition unveils a 34-point reform package

CDU, CSU and SPD agreed a package of 34+ measures spanning tax, labour market, bureaucracy, pensions, housing and digitalisation. Headline items: ~€10bn annual income-tax relief for low/middle earners from January 2027, a gradual retirement-age rise from 65 to 67, and abolition of telephone sick notes. The contested "Heizungsgesetz" is being replaced by a new Building Modernisation Act from 1 November, and ministries are drafting an action plan against social-benefits fraud built on cross-agency data-sharing.

A centre-right-led government unwinding an unpopular green mandate and reframing it around cost and flexibility — a template the UK Conservatives will recognise from the net-zero backlash — paired with a concrete welfare-integrity example.