Come 6 May, many EU officials in Brussels and European governments will breathe a sigh of relief. This is the day the Berlin coalition partners have scheduled the election in the Bundestag of Friedrich Merz as next German chancellor. The leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) will need a simple majority in the Lower House of Parliament where his group and the Social Democrats (SPD) have a majority of 28 seats.
After the three-party coalition of Social Democratic chancellor Olaf Scholz, marked by unprecedented German inertia in the EU, some of Germany’s key partners like France, Poland and the Netherlands have voiced satisfaction at the forming of a new and more forceful government to tackle Europe’s security and economic challenges. Merz’ promise that they could “count on Germany again” was widely applauded.
