German Greens Target Merkel’s Job With 500 Billion-Euro Plan
- Party’s climate goals have drawn fire from German industry
- Greens would ease constitutional restrictions on public debt
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Germany’s Green party opened its bid to run Europe’s biggest economy with a manifesto that seeks to broaden its appeal among mainstream voters, while risking opposition from fiscal hawks and business leaders.
Underpinned by a 500 billion-euro ($593 billion) green spending plan, delegates at a virtual party convention backed their leaders over the weekend in staking out a claim to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel after next year’s election. Goals in the manifest approved on Sunday include speeding up Germany’s transition to a carbon-free nation, embedding it deeper in the European Union and expanding social services.