Friday's top story: Black-red coalition promises roads and railways to be built faster
A faster expansion of motorways and train lines, stable contributions for health insurance and stricter rules for the unemployed: this is what Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and the other leaders of the Union and SPD promised on Thursday, after their last coalition committee before Christmas.
"Such extensive reforms...have never happened in Germany before," Merz said. Improvements would be noticeable in the coming year, he and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) said.
A major part of the plan to speed up infrastructure projects is to restrict legal challenges that can be brought against these projects over environmental concerns.
"In future, clearer rules will apply to legal challenges against infrastructure projects," a document agreed between the parties said.
It added that, "Objections will only be considered if the person or association concerned has already participated in administrative proceedings at the planning stage..."
But it remains to be seen to what extent legal challenges can really be limited. Juergen Resch, head of NGO Environmental Action Germany, told AFP that similar provisions limiting the right to object to projects were removed from German law after a 2015 ruling by the European Court of Justice.
"If you now want to reintroduce them, you are deliberately going against this ECJ decision," he said.
Pressure on Merz intensifies as growth forecasts are slashed
Leading German institutes on Thursday downgraded their 2026 growth forecasts, in another bad sign for Chancellor Friedrich Merz whose efforts to reboot Europe's biggest economy face mounting criticism.
The Ifo institute cut its forecast by a hefty half point to 0.8 percent growth while the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the RWI Leibniz Institute also trimmed their predictions, with both expecting expansion of one percent.
After two years of recession, Merz has vowed vast outlays on defence and infrastructure and a barrage of reforms to get the country's export-driven economy moving again.
But critics say his efforts so far have not been radical enough as challenges mount for the economy, from a deepening industrial slump to US tariffs.
READ ALSO: German exports tread water as shipments to the US and China fall
The government's spending plans "will give the German economy a slight boost next year and the year after," Timo Wollmershaeuser, Ifo's head of forecasts, told AFP.
"But it will probably not change anything about the structural problems we have in Germany."
Growth rates in the eurozone's traditional powerhouse have lagged behind most other industrialised countries in recent years.
And while the economy is expected to dodge a third year of recession in 2025, eking out meagre growth, observers still view the long-term outlook as bleak.
Police respond to 'crocodile sighting' in Pfaffenhofen
An alleged crocodile in a lake near Pfaffenhofen in Upper Bavaria triggered a police operation.
A woman reported seeing the head of a crocodile in the water. She said that the animal had even swum around a jetty.
Police from Pfaffenhofen drove to Waldsee where the sighting was reported to investigate.
Officers said they did find what appeared to be a crocodile, but on further inspection it proved to be a plastic replica on a crocodile's head in the water.
The patrol then pulled the object to the shore and removed it from the scene to prevent any further worried lakeside visitors.
Bild reported that the Pfaffenhofen police inspectorate is asking for anyone who knows something about the incident to come forward.
Flixtrain plans serious expansion of services
Flixtrain, the budget railway company, says it plans to bring a number of new trains onto the German tracks by 2028.
Flixtrain co-founder and CEO André Schwämmlein told the German Press Agency that the first vehicles are in production, and they are on schedule.
In May, the company announced a massive expansion of its long-distance connections. For the first time, 65 new vehicles based on the new ICE-L design were ordered from the Spanish manufacturer Talgo.
So far, Flixtrain's fleet consists of 15 modernised used trains.
Until the new trains can be operated on new routes from 2028, the company wants to expand the frequency on its existing connections with other used trains.
The rail service provider says it wants to make around 650 destinations accessible across Europe, as opposed to the current 50 or so German destinations.
LISTED: The big changes for travel in Germany in 2026
Inflation in Germany ticked upward in November
There has been no further easing of prices for consumers in Germany: In November, the inflation rate remained at 2.3 percent, according to provisional calculations by Germany's Statistical Office.
This was the fourth month in a row that inflation was above the two percent mark.
The European Central Bank maintains a goal of keeping inflation over the euro zone at two percent.
The higher the inflation rate, the lower the purchasing power, meaning that consumers can then afford less for one euro. On the other hand, when the inflation rate stays below two percent for long it creates economic risk.
READ ALSO: The big money and tax changes in Germany you need to know in 2026
At the moment Germany is seeing above-average increases in prices for services, and hardly any relief in energy costs.
With reporting by AFP and DPA.
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