Following the Bundestag elections on February 23, the German parties CDU/CSU and SPD have officially launched coalition talks to form a new government, Spiegel reports, Fokus reports.
On Thursday evening, 19 key negotiators from the CDU, CSU and SPD met at the CDU headquarters in Berlin to discuss the main directions of the future coalition agreement with the heads of 16 working groups.
The inaugural meeting lasted only half an hour. The working groups, each of which includes 16 members, will have until March 24 to prepare proposals for the text of the coalition agreement. This agreement will be based on an 11-page document that the two sides agreed on during preliminary negotiations.
The coalition talks are starting under difficult conditions. No agreement has yet been reached with the Greens on the main compromise on the multi-billion-euro infrastructure and defense funding. The agreement of the Greens, who will not be part of the next government, is necessary for the agreed financial package to be adopted by the Bundestag next Tuesday, when a two-thirds majority will be required.
Just before the coalition talks began, the CDU/CSU and the SPD began the process of making the necessary constitutional changes in a three-hour debate in the Bundestag. The CDU leader, Friedrich Merz, proposed that the Greens invest funds from the planned special infrastructure fund of 500 billion. euros in climate protection and to loosen the debt brake not only for defense, but also for civil defense, security and intelligence.
Merz said that this would allow Germany to make significant progress not only in defense, but also in economic competitiveness and climate protection. "What more do you want?", he asked.
The Greens, however, immediately rejected the proposal and sharply criticized the way the negotiations between the CDU/CSU and the SPD were proceeding. Negotiators from the Alternative for Germany, the Left Party and Sarah Wagenknecht's Alliance also expressed dissatisfaction and rejected the plans for constitutional changes.
Once finalized, the coalition agreement will have to be approved by the relevant bodies of the three parties involved. The SPD will also conduct a survey among its members.
It was previously reported that the negotiators imposed strict media controls – a ban on statements to the media, leaks of information and the publication of photos on social networks.