The German government plans to penalise ministries that are slow to tap their share of a special €500bn infrastructure fund set up by Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Finance minister Lars Klingbeil is considering a “bonus-malus” mechanism under which ministries that lag behind on spending could see their funds suspended and redirected elsewhere, according to a finance ministry official.
The proposal is intended to speed up the deployment of the 12-year infrastructure fund set up last year by Merz’s coalition to modernise Germany’s ageing transport, housing, health, communications and energy networks after decades of under-investment. But the penalties system could prove controversial as it would challenge the German tradition of ministerial autonomy.