Two issues stall Merkel coalition
GERMANY: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) failed to conclude coalition negotiations in time to meet a selfimposed deadline but have made progress and will reconvene today, SPD members said.
More than four months after a national election, Europe’s largest economy and pre-eminent powerbroker is in political paralysis, causing concern among investors and partner countries that policy making on issues such as Britain’s looming departure from the European Union and euro zone reform may be held up.
The conservatives and SPD had hoped to agree to renew the ‘‘grand coalition’’ that has governed Germany since 2013, but disputes over healthcare and labour policy remain.
‘‘We had a very constructive day today and we reached a lot of agreements,’’ said SPD general secretary Lars Klingbeil, pointing to deals on rents and real estate, digitalisation and culture.
He said negotiators agreed to talk again today ‘‘in detail and in a focused way’’ about several contentious issues.
Berlin mayor Michael Mueller, another SPD negotiator, said the overall package still needed to be assessed, but he was heartened by an agreement to protect renters against excessive increases in rental costs.
‘‘We have a basis that is getting better day by day,’’ he said.
The SPD, stung by its worst post-war result in September elections, is struggling to extract concessions that will convince its 443,000 members to approve another tie-up with conservatives.
CDU deputy Thomas Strobl said he expected the parties to reach an agreement.
‘‘We need a bit more time,’’ he said.
Asked if the negotiations could still fail, senior conservative Reiner Haseloff said: ‘‘I don’t think so. I hope not. I can’t think of any topic that is insurmountable.’’
Merkel, in office for 12 years, had said earlier that her conservatives faced tough negotiations with the SPD, adding: ‘‘We did good groundwork yesterday but there are still important issues that need to be resolved.’’
The parties agreed to invest more than 2 billion euros (NZ$3.4b) in social housing by 2021, to spend up to 12 billion euros on expanding broadband, and to channel 33 billion euros to municipalities for various projects including childcare.
They have ticked off migration, energy and agriculture in recent days too but the most contentious issues – labour rules and healthcare – have yet to be resolved.
As he arrived for talks, SPD leader Martin Schulz said the sides had edged closer on many issues but were still clashing over the SPD’s bid to bar employers from imposing short-term employment contracts without justification.
The two sides are also still at odds over the SPD’s call to replace Germany’s dual public-private healthcare system with one system for all, but trade-offs have been made in a number of areas.
The SPD sees progress on healthcare and labour market policy as crucial to persuade Leftwing members of the party and others who want to avoid another awkward partnership with Merkel.
‘‘I think agreements are possible but they still haven’t been reached,’’ Schulz said.
‘‘Ultimately it’s necessary to take the time you need to create a stable foundation for a stable government.’’ –