Agency Report –
Germany’s conservative bloc is set to start coalition talks with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday evening.
The parties aim to form the next government — but the public is unlikely to hear much about the negotiations until a final deal is struck.
Negotiators were given strict guidelines to follow for the duration of the talks which include “no statements, no press conferences, no communication of interim results, no selfies, etc.”
They have also banned leaks according to a leaked document first seen by online digital newspaper Politico, later seen by dpa.
After securing a clear victory in February’s parliamentary election, the conservative alliance of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) have agreed on a number of key points in exploratory talks with the SPD.
Now, 16 working groups, each consisting of 16 representatives from the CDU/CSU and SPD, are to conduct negotiations on the details of a joint government programme.
The working groups are scheduled to meet for 10 days, with a steering group taking care of the coordination.
Their work is then to be passed to a negotiating group, which is to include the leaders of each party.
An eventual draft coalition agreement would then be put to the three parties for their approval.
The SPD has already declared that it would want to consult its members on a draft deal.
Conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor, has said he aims to have the new government in place by Easter. Easter Sunday falls on April 20 this year.
The parties hoping to form the next German government are currently wrangling with lawmakers to pass a multibillion-euro financial package. If approved, it is meant to form the basis for the new coalition.
The proposal includes an amendment to the Basic Law, Germany’s de facto constitution, to allow for increased military spending as well as the creation of a special €500 billion ($545 billion) infrastructure fund.
By Ulrich Steinkohl and Stefan Heinemeyer
