Coalition Clatter Commences: Quiet as a Mouse - These Are the Laws
Strict enforcement of selfie prohibition and mouthguard usage regulations
Social media Email Print Share Copy Link Formal Frenzy, Stringent Etiquette: With 16 task forces, Black-Red is instigating coalition talks. A "protocol" demands more from SPD and Union participants: secrecy and decorum. Translation: no pics with a smile.
The bigwigs from Union and SPD have established a set of strict guidelines for the members of the task forces for the imminent coalition negotiations. "No commentary, no press conferences, no leakage of progress reports, no selfies, etc.", reads the "protocol for coalition talks 2025."
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The 16 task forces commence today, Thursday, and are expected to wrap up by no later than Monday, March 24. By Sunday, March 16, the heads of each task force are to create a "preliminary agenda" that will be submitted to the steering committee, consisting of CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann, SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch, CDU parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei, and CSU faction leader Alexander Dobrindt. This panel will identify "potential sticking points." The meetings will take place at party headquarters or in the Bundestag. Each task force determines its own starting time.
At the conclusion of the coalition negotiations, a "financial audit" will be conducted. Only then will solid decisions be made on financial measures. Following the completion of their deliberations, the task forces will submit a "minimal and succinct" paper. This will proceed to the steering committee and then to the negotiating committee, which also includes CDU leader Friedrich Merz, SPD leaders Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken, and CSU leader Markus Söder.
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In order to maintain harmony during the ten-day consultation period of the heads of task forces, a steering committee will be in charge. Union and SPD had settled on primary elements during preliminary talks to serve as a foundation for negotiations, but there are still numerous questions that need to be addressed.
SPD Roster
In the SPD, all ministers from the previous traffic light government are either part of a task force or the main negotiating team - except for Wolfgang Schmidt, Chief of the Chancellor's Office. Chancellor Olaf Scholz remains on the sidelines. He had already declared following the election defeat that he would not participate in the formation of a new government.
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Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, for instance, is negotiating in the task force "Health and Care." Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is not part of the task force "Interior," but has been assigned to the task force on "Bureaucracy Reduction and State Modernization." Minister-president of SPD, Alexander Schweitzer (Rhineland-Palatinate) is part of the task force "Economy, Industry, Tourism." Manuela Schwesig (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) and Anke Rehlinger (Saarland) are in the negotiating team.
CDU Roster
No minister-president is part of a task force for the CDU, but the Premier of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, is in the negotiating round. General Secretary Carsten Linnemann is part of the task force on "Work and Social Affairs." Parliamentary vice-president Jens Spahn is in the task force on Economics. Schleswig-Holstein's Minister of Education and CDU Vice, Karin Prien, is negotiating in the task force on "Education, Research, Innovation," and the CDU state leader in Baden-Württemberg, Manuel Hagel, is in the task force on "Digital."
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The CSU is dispatching not only Bundestag members but also an entire assembly of Bavarian cabinet members - from Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann in the task force "Interior, Law, Migration and Integration" to Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter in the Transport task force, to Social Minister Ulrike Scharf in the task force "Work and Social Affairs." For the Agriculture task force, the preferred candidate for the Federal Agriculture Ministry position from the CSU, Bavaria's Farmers' President Günther Felßner, has been named.
Tug-of-War for Financial Package
Simultaneously with the initiation of coalition negotiations, Union and SPD are working to expedite their agreed-upon colossal financial package for defense and infrastructure. On Thursday, the factions also intend to introduce three constitutional amendments in the old Bundestag for this purpose. To achieve the necessary two-thirds majority, the votes of the Greens are necessary, but complex negotiations are still taking place with them.
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- The bigwigs from Union and SPD have agreed to a set of guidelines for the members of the task forces, which include strict rules such as no commentary, no press conferences, no leakage of progress reports, and no selfies during the coalition negotiations.
- small and medium-sized undertakings will be among the topics discussed by the task forces, as the coalition aims to maintain harmony during the ten-day consultation period and bylaws for these businesses might be part of the coalition policy.
- WhatsApp messages have been used by coalition members to speed up the agreed-upon financial package for defense and infrastructure, as they have been trying to introduce three constitutional amendments for this purpose, with the help of the Green party, and to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority in the old Bundestag.
