Schulz hopes for long-term prospects for the German Traffic Light Alliance

“Not only do we want to have professional traffic lights negotiations now, we also want to govern well together so that we are re-elected,” Schultz wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

It will work if the future German federal government shows citizens: “There is a fresh start, they are making the right decisions for our future.” Leaders of the SPD, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party presented a joint paper on Friday on the results of their exploratory talks and called for coalition negotiations. The Social Democratic Party’s executive committee voted unanimously on Friday. In the case of the Greens, a small party conference must decide this Sunday, then the decision of the LDP leadership must be made on Monday.

Merz and Laschet are surprisingly good

According to CDU economist Friedrich Merz, CDU president Armin Laschet also commented surprisingly on an exploratory paper on Saturday. “There are a lot of good things out there,” the failed candidate for chancellor said on the day of the German Youth Association in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia. Many also “conditionally”. CDU must now be considered carefully. “We will measure them by actions, not by twelve exploratory pages,” Lachet said. At the same time, he clearly brought the CDU into line with a role in the opposition.

Merz had also previously praised the three potential traffic lights partners for their exploratory concept. “I think you made a big paper,” Merz told Germany’s Editorial Network. “This is an occasion for respect and critical self-examination: we could have had that, too.” He set a dramatically different tone from Union Parliamentary Group leader Ralph Brinkhaus, who criticized the concept.

“Failure would be really surprising now”

Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party continue to spread confidence in the success of the targeted formation of the government. Robert Habeck, head of the Green Party, said Friday night on ZDF television that the failure would “really come as a surprise”. “I don’t think so anymore.” But there are still some conflicts. Schulz reiterated his goal of forming a new government before Christmas in the ARD.

Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malo Dreyer (Social Democratic Party) told Handelsblatt: “In the explorations we have established the basic requirements of the Traffic Light Alliance: We have built trust.” Dreyer, who herself leads the Rhineland-Palatinate Traffic Lights Alliance, said government formation is always about give and take. “Overall, we were able to achieve a lot of what we decided to do before the election.”

Critical points removed

There is particular criticism of the question of how to fund potential traffic light government plans. Habeck confirmed to ZDF that this question went further than reflected in the results paper. “The possibility of significantly more debt sustainability in the coming year” is not one of them. He added: “Except for one that the Democratic Unionist Party pushed for a new pension system, and ten billion will be available next year in the form of a loan.”

The SPD, the FDP, and the Greens also removed other critical points with “initial decisions”. Among other things, they agreed on a faster phase-out of coal, a massive expansion of renewable energies, and a minimum wage of twelve euros. There is no speed limit on motorways and no planned tax increases, according to the newspaper.