The parties negotiating Germany’s next coalition government have reached an agreement in their exploratory talks, conservative bloc leader Friedrich Merz said on Saturday.
CDU/CSU and SPD now moving towards formal negotiations as coalition nears
Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) will now move to formal negotiations to form a government with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Merz is expected to be the next chancellor in this new government.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin with Lars Klingbeil, co-leader and parliamentary group leader of the SPD, Merz said agreement had been reached on a whole range of substantive issues.
They include a plan to turn away people who apply for asylum at the land borders, in coordination with neighboring countries, along with a reduction in the electricity tax to ease the burden on companies
and private households.
The exploratory talks also focused in part on tax policy, with the two sides agreeing to permanently reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) on food in restaurants to 7%, CSU leader Markus Söder said.
Merz added that a joint paper should be the basis for coalition negotiations, which could begin next week if necessary. Merz has set the goal of concluding negotiations by Easter.
The CDU/CSU won the parliamentary elections on February 23 with 28.5%. The SPD came in third with 16.4%, behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which took 20.8%. All parties have ruled out working with the AfD.
In Germany, coalition governments are typically formed in two phases, with parties first holding exploratory talks and then entering into formal coalition talks.
The two parties were racing for a preliminary deal before next week when they hope to push a loosening of Germany’s borrowing limits through parliament to revive growth in Europe’s largest economy and boost military spending.
This breaking news story will be updated shortly….