Germany’s next chancellor looks set to be Friedrich Merz, whose opposition conservative CDU/CSU bloc is far ahead in the polls, but he will need a partner, possibly two. A so-called grand coalition of the two big centrist parties, the CDU/CSU and Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) is seen as the most likely election outcome.
The SPD and CDU/CSU have already governed together four times since World War Two – three times under the leadership of former conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merz, however, has moved the bloc further to the right, taking a tougher stance on migration than Merkel and a more pro-market position on the economy.
The CDU/CSU wants broad tax cuts while the SPD wants to raise taxes for high-income earners and revive a wealth tax.
That means both could struggle to agree on deeper reforms, except a possible easing of the debt brake.
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