Scholz argued that Germany needs “more financial wiggle room” to deal with the difficulties it confronts.

“The situation is serious. There’s a war in Europe, increasing tensions in the Middle East, the economy is stagnating,” Scholz said. “Companies need support now.”

The German economy has failed to mount a sustained rebound from the pandemic and war in Ukraine, with some economists predicting 2024 output to shrink for a second year in a row. The main weakness is its important manufacturing sector, which is weighed down by soft foreign demand, high borrowing costs and a host of structural issues at home.

“Olaf Scholz has long since ceased to be interested in an agreement that is acceptable to all, but rather in a calculated break-up of this coalition,” Lindner said in a statement. “In doing so, he is leading Germany into a phase of uncertainty.”

German chancellors don’t have the power to call an early election, which lies with the federal president, but they can try to trigger one by deliberately losing a confidence vote in the lower house of parliament.

Once Scholz fails to garner a majority in the January 15 ballot, he can ask President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a former Social Democrat vice chancellor, to step in and dissolve parliament. The election would then have to be held within 60 days.

Meanwhile, his cabinet has approved a draft law that would allow the army to gauge the readiness of the country’s 18-year-olds to serve in the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) as it looks to boost troop numbers for NATO obligations without resorting to conscription.

The war in Ukraine prompted a debate in Germany over whether to reintroduce conscription, which was ended in 2011, to boost shrinking troop numbers in response to a more aggressive Russia.

It currently has 180,000 soldiers, which it wants to increase to 203,000 by 2031, as well as 60,000 reservists.

The aim is to eventually reach 200,000 more reservists, which would enable the country to swiftly expand its troops to around 460,000 in the event of war.

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With the end of conscription, Germany stopped the registration of 18-year-olds for military service, leaving the country without a reliable database on whom it could call up.

The aim of the new law is to once again have an overview of those figures: Under the model proposed, all men turning 18 – about roughly 300,000 next year – will have to fill out a digital survey on their interest in joining the army.

Young women will also be sent the survey but are not obliged to respond.

Bloomberg, AP