German Chancellor Merz Expects Tough Budget Talks, Seeks EU Deal by Year-End

The signal here is procedural, not fiscal: linking a difficult national budget to a hoped-for EU budget deal ties Berlin's domestic constraints directly to the bloc's spending timeline. That matters because Germany's position typically shapes how much room EU negotiators have. The open question is whether the year-end target holds once national talks get harder, and whether that pressure spills into EU-level agreement.