German conservatives begin exploratory coalition talks with Social Democrats

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) — Germany's Christian Democrats and Social Democrats began exploratory talks on Friday to determine if they can find common ground to form a coalition government following Sunday's elections.

The talks began with nine negotiators from each party group meeting in the Bundestag, including conservative leader Friedrich Merz, who won Sunday's election, and Social Democratic Party co-chair Lars Klingbeil.

According to public broadcaster ARD, the exploratory talks were expected to focus on establishing guidelines and a timeline for formal coalition negotiations, though no date has been set for when these might begin.

Earlier this week, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Merz said he wanted to start formal negotiations with the Social Democrats next week, hoping to build the coalition government before the Easter holiday (April 20–21).

Ralf Stegner, a senior Social Democrat lawmaker, told public broadcaster ZDF that the parties recognize the urgency of domestic and international challenges. "We cannot afford to spend many weeks,” he said, but he added that the negotiations would likely be difficult on several key issues.

Migration is expected to be among the most contentious issues in the coalition negotiations. During the election campaign, Merz's CDU/CSU alliance promised to introduce strict border controls and turn away asylum seekers at Germany's borders.

The Social Democrats also promised stronger measures to address irregular migration but emphasized that these measures should be compatible with the constitution and EU law.

The Christian Democrats also promised increased scrutiny of social spending and vowed to abolish social welfare payments (Burgergeld) for the unemployed or those earning below the subsistence level. The Social Democrats have been critical of such cuts to social programs.

During the election campaign, they also promised to raise the minimum wage to €15 (almost $16) per hour, providing tax relief for millions of workers.

Another major point of contention is reforming the constitutional limits to state borrowing, known as the “debt brake.”

While the Social Democrats demand reforming the debt limit to finance new infrastructure investments and defense procurements, Christian Democrats have so far stressed the importance of budgetary discipline and opposed significant changes to the fiscal rules.

Germany's “debt brake” is a constitutional limit on state borrowing and restricts public deficits to 0.35% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance won 28.5% of the vote in Sunday's general election, securing a clear lead over other parties but falling short of an absolute majority in parliament.

The Social Democrats, despite receiving their lowest historical vote share of 16.4%, have emerged as a viable coalition partner. Together, the two parties would hold 328 seats in the Bundestag, exceeding the 316-seat majority required to govern.