Berlin, Oct. 15 (BNA) Germany’s Social Democrats and two smaller parties – the Green Party and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party – moved toward formal talks to form a left-leaning government after last month’s elections that rearranged the country’s political landscape. .
“We are convinced that we can conclude an ambitious and viable coalition agreement,” said a joint paper released after Friday’s final exploration round.
This came nearly three weeks after the September 26 elections saw a sharp drop in support for the coalition of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, German news agency dpa said.
Its bloc was second only to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), which put Finance Minister Olaf Scholz as their candidate for chancellor, in a marked shift for a party that had been nearly written off.
“The exploratory talks were characterized by trust, respect and mutual reflection. We aim to continue that,” the newspaper said.
Schultz said after the talks that a “new beginning” was possible and praised the way the exploratory talks had been conducted.
dpa has learned that shortly after the exploratory talks ended, the executive director of the Social Democratic Party unanimously agreed to enter into formal coalition talks.
After Friday’s talks, Green Party co-leader Annalena Barbock said Germany needed a “real renewal”, not a compromise.
The Greens are scheduled to hold an abbreviated party conference on Sunday to make a formal decision to move forward, and the LDP leadership on Monday.
Among the points agreed so far is that the new SPD-led coalition will seek to accelerate the phase-out of coal for electricity generation, ideally by 2030, versus the current target of 2038.
“This requires the massive expansion of renewable energy sources and the construction of modern gas-fired power plants in order to cover the demand for electricity and energy at competitive prices in the coming years,” the newspaper said.
The three parties said they aimed to lower electricity costs for German consumers who currently pay among the highest prices in Europe.
In an apparent victory for the FDP and a defeat for the Greens, both parties agreed that no total speed limit would be imposed on German motorways.
“We aim to turn Germany into a leading market for electric mobility and significantly accelerate the expansion of charging points. There will be no general speed limit,” the newspaper said.
Robert Habeck, the leader of the Greens, said the joint paper was intended to be clarification. “We could not go beyond the speed limit. We are very satisfied with the other points,” he said, referring to the party’s attempts to impose a 130-kilometer-per-hour limit.
Referring to the FDP’s election pledge not to raise taxes, the paper said: “We will not introduce any new substantive taxes, and we will not, for example, increase income, corporate or value added taxes.”
The parties also made plans to expedite asylum applications and family reunification procedures, as well as repatriating applicants who failed to return home.
They also plan to increase the minimum wage and lower the voting age from 18 to 16.
While exploratory talks are about searching for common ground and disagreements without any commitment, substantive talks will signal the start of a process with the clear intent of forming a viable alliance.
The result of the September 26 elections gave significant power to the two small parties. The Green Party received 14.8 percent and the Freedom and Justice Party 11.5 percent of the vote.
Together they will get 210 seats in the new Bundestag, more than the Social Democrats, which will get 206 seats based on the 25.7 percent they scored in the elections.
Official results are due to be published on Friday, but they are not expected to deviate from the initial numbers.
NS