Skip next section Merz tells lawmakers Germany needs an 'autumn of reforms'09/17/2025 September 17, 2025 Merz tells lawmakers Germany needs an 'autumn of reforms'German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has told parliament that the country faces a critical moment and that major decisions are to be made about three major threats. In addition, he said, there was pressure on Germany's free-trade economy and the risk of political forces dividing society. Merz told the Bundestag that Germany needed to prepare for sweeping reforms. We all sense it: the decisions ahead are not about small details but fundamental questions," the conservative Christian Democrat leader told lawmakers during the general debate on the chancellor's budget. Merz also warned that Germany's economic model was pressured by "a new protectionism aimed against free trade and open markets."