Merkel and Schulz still need to work out the details for a coalition agreement to have a government by March - at the earliest (Photo: European Parliament)

German coalition deal aims for 'Macron-lite' EU renewal

EU Political

Green Economy

by Eszter Zalan and Eric Maurice, BRUSSELS/Sofia,

German chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian allies (CSU) struck a preliminary deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Friday (12 January) to open formal coalition talks.

On Europe, the agreement aims to kickstart the Franco-German tandem driving EU policies and integration by welcoming France's president Emmanuel Macron's reform ideas.

"The renewal of the EU will only succeed if Germany and France work together with all th...

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EU Political Green Economy

Author Bio

Eszter Zalan is a Hungarian journalist who worked for Brussels-based news portal EUobserver specialising in European politics, focusing on populism and Brexit.

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