The UniCredit boss has also objected to Berlin keeping two supervisory board seats while pressing for the removal of Commerzbank Chairman Jens Weidmann.

Klingbeil and Orcel met on Monday on the Italian bank’s takeover plans, a turning point in the two-year battle for control of one of Germany’s biggest banks after Berlin failed in its attempt to stop UniCredit from taking the venture over.

While Orcel placed the conditions, which the Commerzbank leadership may call humiliating, both sides ⁠called the meeting “constructive.”

A spokesperson for Commerzbank dismissed any changes in management, telling Reuters that “The board of Commerzbank AG has running contracts, the supervisory board is elected by the general assembly, and there’s full alignment on strategy.”

“We are currently represented on Commerzbank’s supervisory board and will continue to be,” Klingbeil told reporters on Tuesday, adding, “And, naturally, if and when the time comes, we also expect to be represented on UniCredit’s board.”

“The meeting was a good and constructive initial discussion that will be swiftly followed by others. It’s for both sides to now reflect on this initial discussion so that a way forward can be found in the best interest of all stakeholders and shareholders,” Orcel, from his part, told the media.

Orlopp, in August, said that she was not feeling pressure to give up her role as the Commerzbank CEO after the months-long ownership battle over Germany’s second-largest bank.

Both Orlopp and Weidmann want Commerzbank to remain an independent entity.

Orcel’s latest demand asking for Commerzbank’s top leadership’s removal is not a surprising one, as he, in the past, repeatedly wanted to engage with the German lender’s employee representatives, local authorities, and central government, omitting Orlopp and Weidmann.

“UniCredit is in a position to call an extraordinary shareholder meeting and appoint new shareholder representatives at Commerzbank,” Orcel said in one of his latest statements.

Germany won the right to appoint two board members when it rescued Commerzbank in 2009 during the global financial crisis. The federal government currently retains a stake of 13.3%, and it ⁠is not clear how UniCredit could block Berlin retaining two members while it remains a shareholder.

In addition to the board seats, Berlin has set out several other demands relating to a UniCredit takeover, including Commerzbank remaining listed on the stock exchange, keeping its base in Frankfurt and continuing to finance German ⁠medium-sized companies at home and abroad.

However, German government officials and Commerzbank executives have officially softened their stance on a potential deal after UniCredit amassed a stake of nearly 50% in its acquisition target.

A combination of UniCredit and Commerzbank would create a bank with more than 1.3 trillion euro in assets across two of the euro zone’s largest economies.

In 2024, Orcel unexpectedly secured Commerzbank as UniCredit’s acquisition target by discreetly accumulating a stake, surprising both the German lender and the government.

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German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil will be pressing the demand, along with other conditions, during a planned meeting with UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel in Berlin next week.

A combination of UniCredit and Commerzbank would create a bank with more than 1.3 trillion euro in assets, encompassing two of the euro zone’s largest economies.

The post Germany pushes to keep Commerzbank listed as merger with UniCredit nears appeared first on International Finance.

The approved plans for total spending of 555.4 billion euro will be financed partly through new borrowing worth 203.6 billion euro, including 118.7 billion euro for the core budget. The remaining will come through a 54.9 billion euro infrastructure fund and 30 billion euro from a special defence fund. The proposals will now go before parliament for approval.

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the spending package was designed to strengthen Europe’s largest economy after years of weak growth and underinvestment.

“We want Germany to be a strong and crisis-resilient country. That is why the priorities in the 2027 budget are clear: We want to put our country back on a growth path and create the jobs of the ⁠future in Germany. We are investing in future viability and innovative strength, as well as in security and resilience,” he added further.

Defence remains the budget’s biggest priority. Core military spending will rise by a third to 109 billion euro in 2027, reaching 130.1 billion euro, including Ukraine support and other security expenditure. The government expects defence spending to increase from 2.8% of GDP next year to 3.5% by 2029, following reforms to Germany’s debt brake that allow greater military borrowing. Berlin will now commit a total of 783.8 billion euro to ⁠defence-related expenditure between 2026 and 2030.

Germany has earmarked 11.6 billion euro for Ukraine in 2027 and 8.5 billion euro annually from 2028 to 2030.

“We cannot defend Germany against Putin with a balanced-budget policy. We must make up, in the shortest possible time, for three decades in which no investment was made in our defence capability,” Klingbeil said.

The government also plans to invest 117.5 billion euro in 2027, supported by a 500 billion euro infrastructure fund aimed at modernising transport, energy and public assets.

However, the scale of borrowing has triggered concerns over Germany’s long-term finances. Interest payments are projected to almost double, from 41.9 billion euro in 2027 to 80.7 billion euro by 2030.

Business groups warned that rising debt could eventually squeeze public finances. The Federation of German Industries (BDI), along with German Mittelstand association DMB, while criticising the high borrowing level, sathe Germanost one in every five euros of tax revenue could be absorbed by interest payments by the end of the decade.

“By 2030, nearly one in five euros of tax revenue could be tied up in interest payments,” said BDI chief executive Tanja Goenner.

The budget has also drawn criticism from environmental organisations after the government proposed shifting money from a dedicated climate fund into the regular budget and reducing development aid spending. Klingbeil defended the changes, saying they were necessary to close a 34 billion euro budget gap without undermining Germany’s legally binding climate targets.

Beyond defence, the budget continues to allocate significant resources to welfare programmes and support for Ukraine, highlighting the balancing act facing Berlin as it seeks to revive growth while managing rising geopolitical and fiscal pressures.

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