Coalition split widens over fuel price relief

There's trouble at the top of Europe's largest economy as a dispute over fuel price relief for consumers intensifies.

Meanwhile, figures appear to show a significant rise in the number of rapes.

DW has the latest.

Here is a roundup of the latest headlines that Germany is talking about on Saturday, April 11, 2026:
WATCH: Could egg donation become legal in Germany?

Germany is one of the last countries in Europe that still bans egg cell donation completely.

The health minister has now proposed limited legalization.

Will that be enough to meet the needs of people planning families?

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Artemis II success seen as start of new Moon era
The successful splashdown of Artemis II off California has marked the start of a new phase in space exploration.

German astronaut Alexander Gerst said the mission showed the spacecraft worked reliably with a crew, calling it a key milestone.

Gerst described the new era as one focused on research and long-term exploration.

"This is no longer about planting flags like in the first wave," he said.

The second wave of Moon exploration is in order to explore space, he said.

The mission carried US astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who returned after about 10 days in space.

Gerst said several more test missions will be needed before humans can safely land and operate on the Moon's surface.

Read more about the Artemis mission here .

Survey shows little progress on cutting bureaucracy
Most people and businesses in Germany have seen little change in bureaucracy despite Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government promises to reduce it .

A survey by YouGov found 66% of citizens said administrative burdens had remained the same since the current government took office, while 22% reported an increase.

Only 4% believed bureaucracy had decreased, with 8% unsure.

The poll was conducted for the European Center for Digital Competitiveness at the ESCP Business School in Berlin.

The coalition of the conservative CDU-CSU bloc and the center-left SPD has pledged a broad rollback of bureaucracy through modernization, administrative reform, and digitalization.

However, businesses also report limited improvement.

Among managers surveyed, 63% said bureaucracy had stayed the same, while 31% saw it increase and just 4% reported a decline.

About half said they had delayed or canceled projects in the past year due to slow or complex administrative processes.

Respondents said the greatest need for digital improvement is in healthcare and local administrative offices, followed by tax services and construction approvals.

German foreign medical worker program mired in bureaucracy
Transport strike set to disrupt cities across Bavaria
Public transport workers in Bavaria have announced another strike as wage talks for about 9,000 employees remain deadlocked.

The union Verdi said Tuesday’s walkout will affect cities including Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Regensburg.

The all-day walkout is expected to cause major disruption, although some services — such as S-Bahn trains run by Deutsche Bahn — will continue operating in certain areas.

The union itself has already made significant concessions to the transport companies.

Instead of nearly €670, the union is now demanding €550 in two installments.

And working hours should be reduced from the current 38.5 to 35 hours — but gradually over a longer period.

Germany: Getting around during a rail strike
Reported rape cases rise sharply in Germany
Police in Germany have recorded a significant increase in reported rape cases, according to a media survey.

The newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported 13,920 cases for 2025, up 9% from the previous year and continuing a steady rise from 8,106 cases in 2018.

The figures are based on state police crime statistics, reflecting fully investigated cases rather than convictions.

However, they provide a clear indication of crime trends, with national crime statistics expected to be published soon.

Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig described sexualized violence against women as a serious issue, calling rape an "abhorrent crime" with lifelong consequences for victims.

Hubig said stricter minimum sentences are needed in particularly severe cases, including those involving date rape drugs.

A draft law is expected to go before the cabinet soon, with the coalition also planning tougher penalties for gang rape and cases resulting in pregnancy.

At the same time, overall violent crime — including serious bodily harm, robbery, murder, and manslaughter — has declined slightly from a 2024 peak, with 212,344 cases reported compared to 217,277 the year before.

Breaking the silence: Confronting violence against women
Germany's ruling coalition creaks amid fuel price dispute
Germany's coalition dispute over easing high fuel and energy costs has amped up as center-left Social Democrat Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil presses for stronger state intervention amid turmoil in the Middle East.

The finance minister told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that market intervention was the most effective tool, citing examples from other European countries, despite skepticism from Chancellor Friedrich Merz .

Klingbeil has renewed calls for a windfall tax, lower energy taxes, and a fuel price cap — measures that have been openly rejected by Economy Minister Katherina Reiche and have been viewed skeptically by Merz.

"I can no longer explain to anyone why the governments in Belgium, Luxembourg, or Greece — none of which are communist countries — are limiting prices, while here they are skyrocketing," Klingbeil told the newspaper.

This "very fragile ceasefire" between the US and Iran, unfortunately, will not lead to prices coming down quickly.

The dispute escalated on Friday after Reiche separately criticized Klingbeil’s plans in a public appearance.

Merz reacted by expressing concern over the open conflict and urged restraint, particularly from Reiche.

The Chancellor was "perplexed by the public exchange and urged Minister Reiche to exercise restraint," according to sources close to him.

As recently as Thursday, Merz had expressed his expectation that Klingbeil and Reiche would put forward proposals jointly.

How Germans feel about daily fuel price freeze
Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in the sunny former capital of West Germany, Bonn.

Yes, we’re still enjoying cherry blossom season, something you can find out more about here.

You join us as Germany’s ruling coalition is showing signs of instability over the fuel price crisis.

Conservative Finance Minister Katharina Reiche appears to be increasingly at odds with the center-left Social Democrat Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil over how to address the issue.

For more on this and other news out of Germany, stay here with us.