The German Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) are “in principle” with each other and want to form a coalition together. That is what party leaders Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Lars Klingbeil (SPD) said on Saturday at a joint press conference, various German media report Including Tageschau. A new ‘black-red’ coalition seems to be getting a step closer.
Both parties had just over a week of exploratory discussions with each other. They have now decided to proceed with substantive coalition negotiations, which according to Merz will start next week. The party leaders say they have reached agreement on, among other things, migration, finance, the labor market and economic policy.
CDU became the largest party in the elections of two weeks ago. The SPD of current Federal Chancellor Scholz lost sharply. Second was alternative für Deutschlamd, Merz has excluded collaboration with the Radical-Right Party.
Migration and Debt
One of the most important topics of the negotiations will be the reform of German migration policy. The intended Federal Chancellor Merz stated at the press conference that people who request asylum will be rejected to the country borders in the future. He also emphasized that border controls must be expanded ‘en masse’.
The approach to Germany’s financial situation will also be high on the agenda, with the revision of the Debt As an important point of discussion. This ‘debt brake’, laid down in the Constitution since 2009, greatly limits the government when taking out loans. Merz wants to relax the scheme to create more space for increased government spending, in particular for defense and investments in the economy.
Read also
It takes some getting used to in Brussels: Conservative Germany is on the move. And Europe is moving along