German conservatives and Social Democrats seal coalition agreement

BerlinGermany will be governed for the next four years by a coalition government between conservatives and social democrats, after weeks of intense negotiations that followed the federal elections of February 23. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have sealed a coalition agreement with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Wednesday, amid the "turbulence" caused by the tariff war launched by US President Donald Trump.

"There is still a lot of work to be done. We have before us a solid plan with which we can move our country forward together again," he explained at a press conference andCDU leader Friedrich Merz, when announcing the agreement. Merz, who is expected to be Germany's next chancellor, considers the coalition agreement with the Social Democrats to be "a very strong and clear signal to the country's citizens and its European Union partners." "Germany will have a strong, actionable coalition. The future government will reform and invest in maintaining Germany's stability, making it more secure, and making it economically stronger again," Merz promised.

The Conservatives and Social Democrats have pledged to strengthen Germany's ailing economy and tighten immigration policy. The CDU-CSU and the SPD have also promised to reduce income tax for small and medium-sized incomes. Businesses and consumers will also benefit from a reduction in the electricity tax, among other measures.

"Germany is back on track," Merz summarized when a reporter asked her in English if she had a message for Trump. "Germany will fulfill its defense obligations, and Germany is ready to strengthen its competitiveness. And this is not just Germany, it's Europe, the European Union. And Germany will once again be a very strong partner within the European Union, and we will move the European Union forward," the future chancellor promised.

The coalition agreement still needs to be approved by the CSU executive and a CDU mini-congress, while the SPD will submit it to a digital vote of its members. Merz is expected to be put to a vote in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German Parliament, in early May.

Negotiations under pressure

The tariff war unleashed by Trump, the sharp losses in the stock markets, and the rise of the far-right in Germany in the polls had increased pressure in recent days on negotiators to reach an agreement as soon as possible. Merz explained that the negotiations had taken place "in a situation of growing political tensions around the world" and at a time when many internal and external forces "are not working with Germany, but against it."

"The war in Ukraine continues unabated, the Russian aggressor [President Vladimir] Putin shows no willingness to end the war and silence the guns, while economic uncertainty increases enormously: just this week, decisions by the US government have unleashed new turbulence. We can observe the reactions in time," their consequences on the global stock markets.

The threat of the far right

The announcement of the coalition agreement between the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats coincided with the publication of an Ipsos poll that set off alarm bells at Konrad Adenauer Haus, the CDU headquarters in Berlin. If general elections were held in Germany this Sunday, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be the most voted with 25% of the vote. The CDU-CSU would be right behind with 24% of the vote, followed by the SPD with 15%.

The three coalition partners have already divided up the portfolios in the future government: the CDU will obtain the chancellorship and six ministries, including Foreign Affairs and Economy and Energy; while the SPD will have seven, including Finance and Defense. The Bavarian CSU will head the Interior Ministry and two others.

If all goes according to plan, Merz could become chancellor in May. In Germany, voters do not directly elect the chancellor, the head of the federal government, but rather elect him through the Bundestag, the lower house of the German Parliament resulting from the elections. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, will nominate a candidate from the party with the most votes. The chancellor is elected by the deputies without prior debate and by secret ballot, and must be elected with a majority of the votes in the Bundestag.

This is not the first time that conservatives and Social Democrats have governed Germany together. However, the big difference this time is that the SPD is the third-largest party, behind Alice Weidel's far-right AfD party. The conservative CDU-CSU bloc won the February 23 election with 28.5% of the vote, against the AfD (20.8%), SPD (16.4%), the Greens (11.6%), and Die Linke (8.8%).