Merz Says EU Has Signed Off on German Plan for New Gas Plants

Germany has received the long-awaited green light from the European Union to move ahead with a plan to subsidize a fleet of new gas-fired power plants.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the news from the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — reached his government “this morning in Berlin,” adding that a €12 billion ($14 billion) package to reduce power prices for the nation’s struggling industry can also go ahead.

The plan required EU approval because it involves large government subsidies, he said at an event in Halle in Saxony-Anhalt.

Merz’s government aims to solicit bids to build 8 gigawatts ...