Next German government clears final hurdle as SPD approves coalition agreement
Clean Energy Wire
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has approved the coalition agreement with the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, led by chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz, clearing the final major hurdle to the swearing-in of the new German government next week.
With 84.6 percent approval from party members participating in the online vote, the party base gave “strong backing” for the SPD to join the coalition, said general secretary Matthias Miersch in Berlin. “It is about setting the right course, moving Germany forward and investing in the future of the country with a large volume of funding, but also about cohesion, socially just climate action, securing jobs and ensuring growth,” he said.
The SPD made its co-leader Lars Klingbeil the vice chancellor and finance minister. He will be responsible for putting together a team of ministers from his party, including the future environment and climate minister, and the housing and buildings minister. The selected team will be announced on 5 May, one day ahead of the planned vote for the next chancellor in parliament, which Merz is expected to win.
The prospective coalition government has agreed to continue the country’s landmark energy transition without major adjustments and stick to existing climate targets. Faced with economic stagnation and the geopolitical shake-up after the US election, the coalition parties put more emphasis on economic competitiveness than climate action in their agreement.
The president of the renewable energy industry association (BEE), Simone Peter, welcomed the high levels of approval as a “strong tailwind” for the coalition, which “demonstrates the ability of the governing partners to compromise.” She said work on key energy transition challenges had to begin immediately after Merz’s election as chancellor on 6 May.
The public is sceptical about the future government's chances of success. A survey by RTL/ntv showed that only one third of Germans say that the country will be in a better position in four years than it is today.
