section_path: Government formation/Grand coalition agreement
section_name: Grand coalition agreement
paragraph_text: Grand coalition agreement
  
  With the announcement of the exploratory paper by the CDU/CSU and SPD on March 8, 2025, both parties indicated that they wanted to start coalition negotiations quickly. On March 13, the working groups began their work after a kick-off meeting between the party executive committees and their leaders. Each working group consisted of six representatives from the CDU, three from the CSU and seven from the SPD. There were 16 working groups in total, as well as a steering group that dealt with the working methods of the government and parliamentary groups, electoral law and the responsibilities of the working groups in the event of overlaps.
  
  According to a publicly released handout on the coalition negotiations by the party leaders, there were strict guidelines regarding publicity; for example, there were to be “no statements, no press conferences, no communication of interim results, no selfies, etc.”.
  
  By March 24 at the latest, all working groups had presented the final papers on their topics after some difficult debates. Although these were also supposed to be kept secret, they were all leaked relatively quickly. As can be seen from the papers, the CDU/CSU and SPD reached agreement on certain points, but many problems, especially major ones, were written into the final papers without agreement, in square brackets in which the respective demands were included. According to media reports, the negotiators in the finance working group in particular were far apart and, judging by the final paper, were only able to agree on a few points. The parties also disagreed on the digital ministry demanded by Friedrich Merz. Nevertheless, both sides were optimistic that the new government would be formed.
  
  This was followed by the second, three-day “drafting phase”, during which the parties reviewed and compiled the results of the negotiations for themselves before the final round of negotiations began on March 28 in the so-called 19-party round. In addition to the party leaders, it also included CDU secetary general Carsten Linnemann and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. The aim of these negotiations is the coalition agreement, which the coalition partners want to have in place by Easter. Although this goal was already very ambitious at the time, the party leaders were confident. Deputy CDU chairwoman and later Education Minister Karin Prien said that there was still a lot of time before Easter. "Our country needs a new government. But we will not allow ourselves to be pressured into bad results, we want good results for our country."
  
  Major disagreements that needed to be resolved included financial and tax policy, migration and defense.
  
  After sometimes lengthy negotiations, the party executives of the CDU, CSU and SPD jointly announced their coalition agreement on April 9, 2025. At the presentation, Chancellor - designate Friedrich Merz described the coalition agreement as a strong signal to citizens and Europe. The political center is capable of solving the country's problems. During the negotiations, a relationship of trust was established with the SPD leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil. Merz expects the new federal government to be able to get to work at the beginning of May. On 11 April, it was agreed that Merz would be elected chancellor on 6 May. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil emphasized that savings would create leeway for project agreements. Much is subject to funding. That is why the draft of the coalition agreement often speaks of “want”, not “will”. But, according to Klingbeil, the coalition agreement offers the potential for Germany to emerge stronger from this period.
  
  Naturally, the opposition strongly criticized the coalition agreement. Opposition leader Alice Weidel (AfD) described it as a “document of capitulation”. In her opinion, the paper “bears the signature of the election loser SPD”. The paper "bears the signature of the election loser SPD throughout". The CDU/CSU had "bamboozled and lied to the citizens with false election promises" and not a single election promise had been kept. In addition, the government program does not address the important challenges facing the country. The Greens criticized the coalition agreement as a major disappointment: the coalition agreement contained nothing for people in particular, nor did it address social issues or education. "This coalition has money like hay, but ideas like straw," explained Green co-leader Brantner. The Left Party, meanwhile, described the coalition agreement as a "document of ignorance towards hard-working people and the major challenges of our time". FDP politician Christian Dürr also criticized the plans of the CDU/CSU and SPD. According to Dürr, Germany will be ruled by despondency in the future and the promised policy change will not materialize. BSW Chairwoman Sahra Wagenknecht explained that the coalition agreement does not provide an answer to the economic crisis and trade war. As a result, the coalition would further strengthen the AfD.
  
  However, in order for the coalition to begin its work, the parties had to agree to the terms of the coalition agreement. The CSU did this on April 10 with a unanimous decision by the party executive as well as the CSU regional group in the Bundestag and the Bavarian CSU state parliamentary group. On April 28, the CDU federal committee also voted in favor with an “overwhelming majority”, according to the chairman of the meeting and Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer. On the same day, the CDU announced its ministers. For the SPD, as always, the party base was allowed to decide on participation in the coalition. A good 358,000 party members were called upon to cast their votes by April 29. The youth organization of the SPD, the Jusos, announced before the vote that they wanted to speak out against the agreement, as they did not see central election promises fulfilled. Nevertheless, according to the SPD, 84.6% of those who voted were in favor of the coalition agreement and 15.4% against; the majority was thus higher than in the votes on the grand coalitions in 2013 (76%) and 2018 (66%). At just under 56%, the turnout was above the required 20%. On May 5, the SPD then also announced its ministers before the coalition agreement was signed on the same day.
  
  On the same day, former Chancellor Olaf Scholz was bid farewell with military honors.