Germany’s federal government is planning to set up a large “Resilience Fund” to safeguard critical infrastructure. The plan appears in an internal draft from the Federal Ministry of Economics and was reported by the “Handelsblatt” (Wednesday edition).
The proposed “Fund for Civil Protection in the Economy” is earmarked for up to €500 million per year, for a total of roughly €2 billion over the next four years. The ministry says that, in light of recent events, it is necessary to shield businesses from war‑related impacts, particularly the security of critical energy infrastructure. The backdrop includes sightings of allegedly Russian drones in German airspace and the wide‑scale power outage that struck Berlin in January.
Politically, the government has reached a consensus on creating the Resilience Fund, but agreement on how to finance it remains unresolved. An insider reports that the billions would have to be borrowed through an exception to the debt‑brake rule. Because of this, the funds cannot be allocated to the ministry’s budget line; nevertheless, Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) intends to oversee the fund. The economics ministry has not replied to “Handelsblatt”‘s inquiries about whether it still considers €2 billion necessary for the fund.
