Germany German Christian Democrats and Social Democrats struggle for compromises
The German Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) are preparing to continue their difficult talks on forming a government at the weekend, one week after they began.
07.03.2025, 13:16
SDA
"I assume that this will also take some time, but we have said that the weekend is available," said CSU state group leader Alexander Dobrindt on Friday before the start of the next round of negotiations in Berlin.
The agenda included the topics of finance and social affairs.
SPD leader Saskia Esken spoke of a good and constructive atmosphere in the talks. "I am confident that we will achieve a good result. It is not to be expected that we will finish today," she added. The exploratory talks began exactly one week ago.
These are talks in which the CDU, CSU and SPD sound out whether there is enough common ground to enter into formal coalition negotiations that could lead to a black-red government.
If the CDU/CSU and SPD agree on a planned exploratory paper, it is possible that coalition negotiations could start next week. The party committees of the SPD and CSU would have to approve the start of coalition negotiations - but this is likely to happen quickly and is considered a formality.
Will the talks hinge on the issue of migration?
The CDU/CSU and SPD have recently been far apart, particularly in the migration debate.
CDU leader and Union candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz said during the election campaign that on his first day in office as chancellor, he wanted to use his authority to instruct the Federal Ministry of the Interior to "reject all attempts at illegal entry without exception".
The SPD sees obstacles to such an approach, which would also include asylum seekers, under European law.
CDU leader Merz is under internal pressure after making concessions to the SPD on financial issues. Within the party's own ranks, it was said that core issues such as migration or changes to the citizens' income must now also be pushed through.
