In Germany, the SPD, Greens, and FDP have reached a coalition agreement in principle after intensive negotiations. With the formation of a center-left ‘traffic light coalition,’ the CDU/CSU will move into opposition in the Bundestag. SPD leader Olaf Scholz is expected to become Chancellor as the successor to Angela Merkel.
The three parties had promised to form a new government before Christmas. In that case, Angela Merkel can step down in December as planned. Her CDU/CSU suffered further losses in the recent election. Twice before (1969-1982 and 1998-2005) the Christian Democrats had been in opposition.
Although not all details have been settled, the SPD, Greens, and FDP agree that there should be no tax increases and that minimum wages must be raised. Generally, the parties have also committed to rebuilding the country to meet the challenges of climate change. A significant Climate and Environment section will be introduced.
The future German agricultural policy will play a role in this. According to recent reports, there will no longer be a separate federal Ministry of Agriculture, but rather a combined Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Agriculture, and Food Supply. This aims to resolve the conflicts of recent years between the ministries of Agriculture and Environment.
The composition of the new cabinet has not yet been announced today, but German media speculate that the new mega-ministry will be led by Steffi Lemke (Alliance 90/The Greens). Lemke was one of the co-founders of the Green Party in former East Germany in 1989.
Lemke was a member of the German Bundestag from 1994 to 2002, and again from 2013 onward. During that time, she served on the Food and Agriculture Committee. She studied agricultural sciences at Humboldt University in Berlin and graduated with a degree in agricultural engineering, specializing in animal production.
The German coalition negotiations were led by a main negotiation group consisting of six senior representatives from each party and 22 working groups. In these groups, politicians from the respective parties negotiated the details of the coalition agreement.
The negotiations in the "Agriculture and Food" working group were conducted for the SPD by the Minister of Agriculture of the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Till Backhaus. Renate Künast led the talks for the Greens, and Carina Konrad led the agriculture delegation for the FDP.