German coalition backtracks on taxes, welfare in budget talks, senior lawmakers say

​German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s governing coalition backtracked on some contentious tax and welfare reforms ‌on Wednesday, postponing a tax on sugary drinks and shelving a plastic levy, according to a joint statement from three senior lawmakers.

Merz’s ‌conservative CDU/CSU bloc and its centre-left SPD partners are this ‌week resolving the last remaining issues for the 2027 half-trillion-euro federal budget. ($1 = €0.9018)