Economist suggests autobahn speed limit amid Iran-enduced fuel price spike

A leading economist has recommended a temporary highway speed limit due to rising fuel costs amid the Iran war.

Meanwhile, protesters are gearing up for annual Easter peace marches.

DW has the latest.

Welcome to our roundup of headlines from and about Germany on Friday, April 3:
Stricken humpback whale sprayed with water to soothe suffering
The stranded humpback whale off the island of Poel has not moved and is lying "in an unnatural position, with its back in the sun," a spokesperson for the state Environment Minister in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said on Friday.

In a bid to ease the suffering of a creature that experts believe is in the process of dying, they sprayed water from the Baltic Sea onto its exposed back.

The whale is thought to have lost its way, veering into the much-too-shallow Baltic Sea early in March.

It has ended up stuck several times since, and has been stationary in or near its current location for most of the week amid clear signs of its deterioration.

"We are working on the firm conviction that the animal is dying there," Burkhard Baschek, the scientific director of the German Oceanographic Musueum said earlier in the week .

To make matters worse, should the experts be mistaken and the creature's condition were to suddenly improve, the water level after a few days of drier weather is currently so low that it would have no realistic chance of moving off into deeper waters.

Rescue expert: Whale's 'prospects in Baltic Sea not good'
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IN DEPTH — Easter peace marches planned in shadow of war
More than 100 peace marches and related events are planned around Germany over the course of the Easter weekend.

The weekend has always had a strong geopolitical flavor, whether it was during the threat of nuclear war in the Cold War, or this year in the shadow of war in Ukraine, Iran, the Middle East, Sudan and beyond.

But very often there's a domestic tint to proceedings too.

DW's Ben Knight caught up with the Network of the German Peace Movement that coordinates the events.

More than 20 speakers have registered their intention to discuss the government's plans to partially reintroduce military service .

Why British 'marmelade' labels may face post-Brexit tweaks
Bendy bananas, costly kippers, full English breakfasts and greasy spoons under threat: Brexit advocates in Britain rarely let the details get between them and culinary controversies over the years.

The definition of "marmelade" might become a source of similar gripes in the post-Brexit era, with the dastardly Germans at least partly to blame ( quelle surprise!

)
A lesser-known perk the UK's lobbyists secured in the 1970s defined marmalade as being solely made from citrus fruits, as fictional character Paddington Bear would require in his sandwiches.

But this ran contrary to traditional German, Austrian, Spanish and Italian concepts of the make-up of "Marmelade" or "mermelada" or "marmellata." Spaniards and Italians often use prunes and figs, while Germans once used the term for more or less any fruity preserve, particularly if it was smooth without real fruit pieces inside.

Since the UK's departure from the EU, those lobbying to change the guidelines again now hold the whip hand.

"Marmelade can now also officially be labeled marmelade," a press release from Germany's federal center for food standards proclaimed this week .

Previously, it was only permitted for non-citrus products at market stalls, not on supermarket shelves.

With Britain's relatively new Labour government now seeking to restore some of the lost regulatory alignment with the EU, this could soon lead to small changes to labels in the UK.

According to a BBC report this week, two solutions are most likely: referring to "citrus marmelade" or picking a specific fruit like Paddington's favorite, "orange marmelade."
Wadephul: 'Of course' Trump's NATO statements 'concern me'
"Of course such statements concern me," Wadephul told the Funke media group of newspapers.

However, he also said he did not consider a US exit from the alliance likely, despite the Trump administration's repeated expressions of dissatisfaction with US allies in recent days.

"I think that our clear commitment and our determined support for the alliance will convince the United States to continue this success story together," he said.

Wadephul said NATO was of "enormous importance" to German security and that of all other allies, and also argued that the alliance was stronger than ever before.

He pointed to Sweden and Finland, neutral throughout the Cold War, joining since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and to European commitments to continue increasing defense spending after pressure from Trump.

Wadephul also said that Trump would need "at least the approval of the Senate" in order to withdraw from NATO.

Still, Trump and senior members of his administration have criticized NATO allies for their reticence to get involved in the war with Iran this week.

Asked by conservative British newspaper The Telegraph whether he would reconsider membership, Trump said: "Oh yes, I would say [it's] beyond reconsideration."
Trump 'disappointed' with NATO over refusal to join Iran war
Pathfinder Marie-Louise Eta to coach Union Berlin's women's team
Union Berlin has announced that Marie-Louise Eta will be the next head coach of their women's football team.

Eta broke new ground with Union's men's team late in 2023 by acting as their assistant coach, becoming the first woman in the role in the German Bundesliga.

She later deputized in the lead in the dugout while head coach Nenad Bjelica served a three-game touchline suspension.

The 34-year-old is now graduating to a permanent position at the helm of the senior women's team.

She will also retain her position as the head coach of Union's men's under-19s until the end of the current season.

"Because of her successful work as a coach in the club, as well as her experience as a Bundesliga player, we are conviced that we can make the next steps together and do justice to our amibtions," Union's business director Jennifer Zietz said.

Eta also has experience in coaching roles in the German national team's junior ranks.

Union's women are competing in their first season in the top flight Bundesliga, and are sitting ninth, safe from relegation, after 22 fixtures.

BSW's Wagenknecht says her left-wing party won't join coalitions in east
The founder of the left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) has told the dpa news agency that her party will not be available for coalition government after elections in eastern states later this year.

Wagenknecht said that, in hindsight, it had been "a bad rookie error" for her new party to ally with traditional parties in some states — despite a vastly different outlook on many issues — because it was the only way to set up a functional majority coalition excluding the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) .

In September this year, state elections will take place in Saxony-Anhalt , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the capital Berlin .

While the BSW's popularity is on the wane compared to its high point in 2024, current polls still suggest the party could clear the 5% hurdle that guarantees parliamentary representation in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

"After the vote, the BSW will not be available for a coalition, neither with the AfD nor for another 'firewall' coalition against the AfD," Wagenknecht told dpa on Friday.

Instead, the 56-year-old said her party would consider supporting a technocratic "experts' government" — an idea she already floated after the 2025 federal elections — going into detail on how she feels such a government should look.

"The hallmarks of a citizens' government are a supra-partisan state premier and an abiding principle: competence over party affiliation," Wagenknecht said.

"Recognized personalities from the respective states should be part of it."
She said such a government could "lobby for majorities in parliament with factual arguments and could govern with changing majorities" from policy to policy.

Wagenknecht used to be a leading member of the socialist Left Party.

She broke away to set up a populist alternative party with far-left economic policy, but with a tougher line on immigration and support for Ukraine.

Like the AfD and the Left Party, the BSW's strongest states are in the former communist east , where Germany's more centrist parties are weakest.

Far left?

Far right?

What is Germany's BSW?

Armed man halts high-speed ICE train
A 20-year-old man set off pyrotechnics on a high-speed train from Aachen to Frankfurt overnight, causing minor injuries to passengers and forcing police to stop and clear the train.

Police said on Friday that at least 12 people sustained light injuries and one was briefly taken to hospital with a probable case of acoustic shock but could soon be discharged.

Police said that other travelers responded and locked the man in a toilet on board.

Officers stopped the train at the Siegburg/Bonn station and arrested him.

The train was cleared of its roughly 180 passengers as police dealt with the incident.

The passengers were directed to a nearby gymnasium for assistance.

Police searched the vehicle for dangerous items but said the train was clear.

The man, however, had a mask, two knives and two over-the-counter smoke-emitting devices on his person, police said.

Investigations into the man's motives and other background to the case continue.

Diesel prices hit all-time highs, despite law trying to slow the rise
Two days after a new law came into force seeking to slow the rise of petrol and diesel prices for motorists, the evidence seems to point to the legislation making the situation worse, not better.

Germany's ADAC motorists' club on Thursday reported that diesel prices per liter hit an all-time high on April 1 , as the law was introduced.

The all-day average for diesel hit €2.327 per liter nationwide.

That equates to $8.80 per US gallon.

The cheapest Super E10 gasoline variant was also at a two-year high, at €2.129 per liter or $8.60 per US gallon.

The new law, borrowing an idea first devised by the Austrian government, does not limit the prices filling stations can charge, or tie the prices to market oil prices.

Instead, it limits fuel stations to one price increase per day.

But the ADAC said it believed that, at least amid the introduction of the new rule, this limitation might have proven counterproductive, prompting companies to err on the high side with their sole permitted price hike.

"Given the backdrop of the crude oil price falling between March 31 and April 1, ADAC considers [April 1's] price increases to be unreasonable," the organization said.

"The ADAC's fear that the oil companies would use the once-per-day price rise limitation to impose a risk premium seems to be confirmed."
The organization said it believed "it is now the task of the Federal Cartel Office to move the oil companies towards moderation."
How Germans feel about daily fuel price freeze
Economist floats temporary autobahn speed limit given Iran and fuel prices
Veronika Grimm, one of the members of a special panel of economists that reports to the German government, has recommended temporary speed limits as a possible response to the rising prices for diesel and petrol or gasoline.

"That wouldn't do any harm — maybe even a smart signal, so that people take the situation seriously," Grimm told the Rheinischer Post newspaper's Friday edition.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has already recommended measures designed to reduce oil consumption, given the Iran war and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz .

It mentioned temporarily lower speed limits as one possible measure.

Even the most speed-hungry Germans might be wary of putting their foot down on the unrestricted sections of the autobahn highway network at present, given that fuel prices are flirting with all-time highs.

Nevertheless, the country's rules on highways in particular are some of the most permissive in the world.

Around 70% of the network (albeit usually the quieter stretches) is unrestricted, and most of the remainder is subject to a limit of 130 kilometers per hour (roughly 80 miles per hour).

Frohe Ostern and a very Good Friday to you.

Thanks for joining us, whether it's a religious bank holiday in your neck of the woods or not.

Easter likely heralds a quieter few days politically in Berlin; even Chancellor Friedrich Merz was planning to spend a long weekend with his family.

But there's still plenty afoot around the country.

Activists across the country will be participating in Easter peace marches, an annual and still well-attended tradition in Germany since the height of the Cold War, throughout the weekend.

To the north, rescuers are keeping up a round-the-clock vigil on the stranded humpback whale dubbed "Timmy" that has been trapped in various Baltic Sea locations for more than a week now, even as the vast marine mammal's condition continues to deteriorate.

And motorists' eyes will likely remain fixed on the prices at the pumps , especially if they're traveling far over the holiday.

An economist who's part of a special panel that regularly consults the government is even suggesting a temporary speed limit on the autobahns could be a good move.

That notion's tantamount to sacrilege in some quarters here, it could raise an eyebrow or even some hackles.

Stick with us for updates on all this and more throughout the day.