Germany news: Merz pushes sweeping reform agenda

Below you can review the latest from Germany from Thursday, June 11:

The first two civil lawsuits have opened in Essen, in western Germany, as customers seek damages from the Sparkasse bank after a spectacular vault heist over the Christmas holidays .

Criminals were able to drill a vast hole directly into the vault of the Buer branch of the bank in the city of Gelsenkirchen, spending a minimum of four hours inside cleaning out most of the safe deposit boxes, with their crime only being identified and reported two days later, on December 29, when a fire alarm went off for a second time.

The two claimants are suing for damages and told the court on Thursday that they would reject an offer of an arbitration settlement. They accuse the bank of serious shortcomings in ensuring the security of the vault, charges the lender rejects.

The judge said it was possible that all civil claims connected to the heist might be adjourned until an assessor had given a verdict on the bank's liability for the first case. He said it would make no sense to try to assess every case individually as they all stemmed from the same crime at the same bank.

Sparkasse says it automatically insures each safe deposit box, around 3,100 were inside the ravaged vault, for a maximum of €10,300 (roughly $11,850) unless customers make other arrangements.

Both claimants say their valuables were worth considerably more. An 83-year-old woman says she had jewelry and cash worth €391,000 inside, while the man in the other, separate case gives a tally of almost €49,000.

They point to things like the criminals gaining access to the parking lot, seemingly via a manipulated emergency exit , using an industrial drill to penetrate the vault, circumventing several alarms, and their presence having gone undetected for two full days, while the bank was shut for Christmas and the weekend that followed it, as signs of security failings.

The bank has argued that its security provisions at the branch were beyond reproach and that the site was hit by an elaborately planned operation by a sophisticated group of thieves. It has also argued that, by design, it was not privy to details of exactly what customers kept in the boxes.

Lawyer Daniel Kuhlmann says he is representing a total of around 650 customers with claims totaling about €51.5 million.

Disclaimer: This update is accompanied by a level 2.6 myopia warning from your favorite Bonn-based newsroom.

A week into severe traffic disruptions in and around Bonn, caused by the closure of the busiest bridge across the Rhine River in the city of more than 300,000 people, the state's IHK NRW chamber of industry and commerce estimates economic damages of more than a million euros daily.

"The short-term effect is that everybody's stuck in traffic and has to take considerable detours," said Ocke Hamann, the group's transport expert. But he warned that a longer-term closure could also impact investment in the city.

"Businesses with multiple bases will expand elsewhere," he said.

The Friedrich Ebert Bridge or Nordbrücke over the Rhine is the larger and busier of the two highway bridge crossings in Bonn. The other, the southern Konrad Adenauer Bridge or colloquially Südbrücke , is open but currently the site of extensive and long-term maintenance work. So it was operating below capacity before becoming the primary crossing for the entire city.

There is also a city center bridge, the Kennedybrücke , but that is a minor road, tram and pedestrian crossing, with just one lane of traffic in each direction.

Germany's highways agency is currently exploring whether a partial reopening of the cracked bridge could be possible in conjunction with ongoing repair work.

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has a series of major commuter bridges, particularly over the vast Rhine, that are known to be in states of disrepair. However, no time is really suited to working on them, especially if long closures are required.

IHK's bridge monitoring group estimates that around 2,500 bridges in the state are ailing, and almost 800 are currently inadequate. It says that more than 30% of highway bridges are in need of repair or renovation.

Germany's World Cup team is funding the transport costs for 600 supporters going to their last Group E game against Ecuador in New Jersey on June 25, a media report says.

City authorities at NJ Transit hiked train and bus fares from New York to the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey by several times, citing increased pressure on the public transport systems.

They have since reduced them somehwat, but this did little to mollify many fans who had already paid the higher fares.

"In light of the high cost of bus and train travel in New York during the World Cup, the German national team players have organized free transport to the final group match for 600 fans," the BBC quoted the German Football Association (DFB) as saying. "Captain Joshua Kimmich and his teammates are covering the cost of buses to take supporters from New York to the arena in New Jersey for the match against Ecuador."

A round trip to the stadium by train would normally cost $12.90, but NJ Transit initially hiked the fares to $150 . After an outcry, they dropped them back to $98, still 7.5 times the normal rate.

Shuttle buses will cost $20, originally they were priced at $80.

Germany's other group games are against Curacao in Houston and against the Ivory Coast in Toronto, Canada.

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German arms giant Rheinmetall and Bremen-based satellite manufacturer OHB plan to team up for a joint venture.

The new business, OHB Rheinmetall Space Networks, aims to deliver the Bundeswehr military with a "high-performance, secure and continuously available communications architecture," the companies said in a joint statement .

The new company will assume overall responsibility for a system that "will connect soldiers, vehicles, platforms and unmanned systems, ensuring the secure transmission of voice, data and real-time information across all command levels" and be based in the northern city of Bremen.

The new partnership demonstrates that Bremen is increasingly developing into a hub for maritime and space defense, said Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte.

The CEO of OHB, Mario Fuchs, said the two companies were "combining their strenghts to deliver a state-of-the-art, sovereign and future-proof communications system for the Bundeswehr."

Timo Haas, CEO of Rheinmetall's Digital Systems division, said, "Secure space-based communication is now essential for success on the battlefield.

"The digitalization of the armed forces demands secure, seamless connectivity across all command levels, reliable even under extreme conditions," Haas added.

In November, the German government presented its first space security strategy, with a focus on the protection of satellites and communications technology. By 2030, the Federal Ministry of Defense alone intends to allocate €5 billion (roughly $5.75 billion) from its budget to space travel and space security.

A majority of people in Germany has been calling for tighter rules on e-scooters , a survey shows.

Lawmakers are set to debate a bill that would mean stricter liability rules for scooter providers and riders.

Pollster YouGov found 57% of people support more regulation, while 18% favor a full ban.

The survey, commissioned by the social welfare organization VdK, showed 36% want slightly stricter rules, such as fixed parking zones, and 21% want much tougher measures.

VdK President Verena Bentele said the results send a clear signal to policymakers. She pointed to complaints from members, including blind people injured by scooters left in public spaces.