Negotiations have begun in Germany to form a "grand coalition"

Two and a half weeks after the extraordinary elections to the Bundestag, negotiations have begun in Berlin between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) conservative bloc and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) to form a ruling coalition. On the evening of March 13, Thursday, the negotiation teams of conservatives and social democrats met at the CDU headquarters in Berlin.

Negotiations will take place in 16 working groups

Previously, both participants of the upcoming "grand" coalition had announced the names of their delegation members who would participate in the negotiations. They are required to develop a coalition agreement in 16 different working groups, each consisting of 16 participants, and present their proposals for the coalition agreement by March 24. Complex negotiations are expected on issues such as migration, budget, taxation, and defense.

The results of the discussions in the working groups will be presented at the final stage of the negotiations, which will involve 19 people, including the three party leaders – Germany's next chancellor, Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz, social democrats Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken, as well as the Prime Minister of Bavaria and CSU leader Markus Söder.

After the extraordinary elections held in the Bundestag on February 23, the CDU/CSU bloc, which won the vote, began initial consultations with the current ruling coalition member SPD. This phase concluded on March 8, resulting in a draft basic document that included compromises on several issues, including tightening migration policy and significant changes in financial policy.