Hey,
It's Srijith from 0049 :)
Welcome to The Blick! Each week I round up the stories, events, and opportunities that matter most if you’re living in Germany or planning a move here for work or studies.
🔹 EU Cabin Baggage: Negotiators struck a provisional agreement in mid-June giving every air passenger a free personal item and a cabin bag of up to 7 kg, and keeping delay compensation, with the rules set to take effect in 2027 once formally approved.
🔹 TUM University Ranking: The QS World University Rankings 2027, published on 18 June, again ranked the Technical University of Munich the EU's top university and Germany's number one for the twelfth year, the only German institution in the global top 50 at 25th.
🔹 EU Parliament Return Regulation: On 17 June, MEPs backed a new EU returns law allowing offshore "return hubs," detention of up to 24 months, and entry bans of up to 10 years.
🔹 Football World Cup: Germany beat Ivory Coast 2–1 on 20 June after opening with a 7–1 win over Curaçao, taking maximum points from their first two Group E matches at the 2026 World Cup.
🔹 Evonik to cut 3,200 jobs: The Essen-based chemicals group said on 18 June it will eliminate around 3,200 positions worldwide by 2029, 2,150 of them in Germany
🔹 Pension Commission Proposals, 23 June: The government's expert commission hands its recommendations to Chancellor Merz and Labour Minister Bas, reportedly including a retirement age that rises with life expectancy from 2032 and an end to early retirement at 63.
🔹 Bundestag Sitting, 22–26 June: The Bundestag returns for a full sitting week of plenary debates and votes on pending legislation, the main parliamentary window before early July.
🔹 ifo Business Climate Index, 24 June: Germany's most-watched business sentiment gauge is due mid-week and will show whether company optimism is recovering after a stronger ZEW investor survey this week.
🔹 Germany vs Ecuador, 25 June: Germany close out the World Cup group stage on Thursday night already in a strong position, with the round of 16 to follow on 29 June (just outside this window).
🔹 2026/27 WS University Applications: Applications for most German universities are open now, with many programme and uni-assist deadlines falling around mid-July, so international students should prepare documents this week. https://www.uni-assist.de https://www.hochschulkompass.de
🔹 Family49 Community: Family49 is now ready, and we are opening it to a select number of members to begin with. Here you can ask questions, share experiences, and get real answers from people who are going on the same journey as you. If that sounds useful, you can join the waiting list, and I will let you know as soon as more slots open up.
Join the Wait: https://zerozerofournine.com/join-family49/
That is it for this week. Stay informed, stay prepared.
Until next week,
💙 Peace,
Srijith