The German conservative bloc Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) is starting talks today with the center-left German Social Democratic Party (SPD) to form a coalition federal government. This comes after the clear victory achieved in the parliamentary elections on February 23, DPA reports, BTA reports.
During the preliminary talks, the CDU/CSU and the SPD reached an agreement on a number of key issues. Now 16 working groups, each including 16 representatives from the three parties, will continue negotiations on the details of the joint government program.
The working groups will meet for 10 days, after which the results of their work will be passed on to a negotiating group including the party leaders.
It is planned that the possible draft coalition agreement will be submitted for approval to the CDU, CSU and SPD.
The SPD has already announced that it will consult its members on the draft agreement for a governing coalition.
The CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who is expected to be Germany's next chancellor, said that the goal is to form a new government before Easter (April 20).