By Maria Martinez

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s political parties have failed to agree on much since Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition collapsed in November, but some laws could still be passed before February’s snap elections.

The departure of the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) coalition deprived Scholz’s government of its parliamentary majority and left in limbo dozens of laws that the coalition was expected to adopt in its remaining time.

However, the FDP indicated on Friday its support for the adoption of certain laws already well advanced in the legislative process and in which the party is deeply involved.

Scholz will hold a confidence vote Monday and he urged lawmakers to work together during the remaining window before the election scheduled for Feb. 23 to pass the measures still on the agenda.

WHAT LAWS COULD BE PASSED THIS WEEK?

The parties of the old coalition – the SPD, Greens and FDP – reached an agreement on Friday to provide income tax breaks and higher child benefits.

According to a draft bill, the deal will result in tax relief of more than 11 billion euros ($11.6 billion) for 2025 and 2026. Family allowances will increase by five euros to 255 euros per month.

Another possible survivor is the Deutschlandticket, a flagship policy of the Scholz government that allows unlimited travel on local and regional transport for a monthly flat rate of 58 euros for the next year.

Although popular with voters, its €1.5 billion price tag must be approved for next year. Conservative leader Friedrich Merz said he would pave the way for this solution.

Measures to strengthen Germany’s Constitutional Court are also expected to be approved with the support of the three former coalition partners and the conservatives.

The court could be vulnerable if right- and left-wing populist parties win a third of the seats in parliament after the election, allowing them to block the appointment of new judges indefinitely, leading to court backlogs.

WHAT LAWS WILL FALL OUT?

A law that would encourage the construction of hydrogen-compatible power plants was due to be sent to regional governments for consultation when the coalition collapsed. Although this additional capacity is urgently needed to complement wind and solar power, ministers do not believe it is time to push it through Parliament.

There is also no time to adopt the 2025 budget, new German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies said after the collapse of the coalition. However, the draft budget prepared by the former coalition before the summer will serve as the basis for an interim budget for 2025 to keep things moving until a new government adopts a final budget.

While the cabinet decided to extend the rent freeze until 2029, Merz announced that his party would not support it in Parliament because the current freeze is valid until the end of 2025.

Scholz’s proposal to reduce the VAT rate on food products from 7% to 5% is also seen as having no chance of success, with conservatives and the FDP calling the plan an electoral maneuver.

Germany’s cabinet approved a pension reform in September, but Scholz’s plans to guarantee a minimum pension of 48% of average earnings are unlikely to gain the support needed to pass parliament.

The chancellor’s plans to cap electricity transmission costs at 3 cents per kilowatt hour and to partly finance the costs of transmission networks also lack support from the opposition.

($1 = 0.9516 euros)

(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Thomas Escritt, Christian Kraemer and Andreas Rinke; editing by Toby Chopra)