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Merkel ends deadlock in coalition deal with social democrats
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German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union's (CDU) main candidate Angela Merkel delivers a speech during an election rally in Schwerin, northern Germany, on Sept. 19, 2017. Germany goes to the polls for parliamentary elections on Sept. 24, 2017. (Agence France-Presse/Odd Andersen)
G
erman Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc has concluded a coalition agreement that hands a half-dozen ministries -- including the key foreign and finance portfolios -- to her Social Democratic allies, a move that will likely bolster the country’s commitment to greater European integration.
Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union will get five ministries, including defense and economy, and the CDU’s Bavarian sister party will take three, according to a copy of the coalition agreement obtained by Bloomberg. German media reported that Social Democrat party leader Martin Schulz will serve as foreign minister, Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz will oversee finance, and Horst Seehofer -- chief of the Bavarian Christian Social Union -- will get interior.
While Merkel sets policy guidelines for the government as chancellor, SPD-led finance and foreign ministries will allow Schulz to make good on his pledge to deepen euro-area cooperation and reach out to France’s Emmanuel Macron, who says the 19-country currency bloc should have a joint budget and finance minister. Merkel hasn’t fully embraced the proposals, though she has said the EU needs deeper integration to be able to assert meaningful influence on the global stage.
The deal was worked out by a core of about 15 leaders and must now be approved by a broader group of roughly 90. While the pact clears a key hurdle to a fourth term for Merkel, the SPD’s pledge to let its 464,000 members vote on the agreement augurs several more weeks of uncertainty.
After more than 24 hours of talks at the CDU’s headquarters, Merkel headed home for a few hours rest before a planned press conference to outline details of the deal.
The two sides “left our barricades and resolved the conflicts,” Alexander Dobrindt, the parliamentary caucus leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union, told reporters outside the talks.
Any coalition deal will hinge on how well Social Democratic leader Martin Schulz, the challenger Merkel defeated in September, can sell the pact to a party base that’s chafing at the idea of helping the Christian Democrats govern for the third time since 2005.
