The decision in the end was clear: two no votes, one abstention, all the other delegates who had gathered on Sunday afternoon for the small green party congress agreed to start coalition negotiations with the SPD and FDP.

The exploration team came on stage in Berlin's Westhafen, smiling faces, applause and music.

"Thanks for the confidence boost," shouted party chairman Robert Habeck.

Helene Bubrowski

Political correspondent in Berlin.

  • Follow I follow

The prospect of governance disciplines the Greens.

The desire for public controversy, which shaped the party in the past, has already declined over the past few years.

Since Friday, the members of the exploratory team have been on the phone a lot with skeptical party friends, explaining the results to them, highlighting the green successes, explaining the value of the compromise.

From the point of view of the federal executive board, it was not just about getting a majority for the application on Sunday, they also did not want to hear too much criticism of the results of the explorations in front of the cameras.

"Where is the real eradication of poverty?"

Around two hours after the party conference began, the atmosphere in the hall became cool.

Cansin Köktürk from Bochum was drawn for a speech.

She stood at the lectern and made no effort to hide her anger.

No thanks to the probers, no hope that something could still be extracted.

Instead: "I have the feeling that the FDP won the election."

With this exploratory paper, she could not imagine how social injustice should be combated.

"Where is the real eradication of poverty in this country and the will to bring the deeply divided society together?" Köktürk left the stage, four or five delegates applauded, the rest did not move.

Read the exploratory paper from the SPD, Greens and FDP here.

The other critics who spoke up on Sunday appeared more conciliatory. Andreas Audretsch from Berlin-Neukölln warned against “getting drunk on the paper”, but his contribution was a warning to the exploration team to negotiate even harder in the future. The exploratory paper states that citizens' money should be introduced instead of Hartz IV. “What does that mean in concrete terms?” Asked Audretsch and gave the answer he was hoping for: “For us that should mean that we should change something”, that one should not simply change the name of the social benefit. That would be “fraudulent labeling”, warned Lasse Petersdotter from Schleswig-Holstein.

Audretsch, who has recently moved into the Bundestag, also spoke about renting. In the big cities, the Greens were elected by many people because they had hoped that the party would find a solution to the rising rents. "Something has to change in substance," he said and wanted to see it as a red line: Otherwise you are not available.

The exploratory paper states that the three parties want to “evaluate and extend the current tenant protection regulations”, but there is nothing there about a rent cap or at least a clause that would enable the federal states to introduce such a cap.

"That is not enough," said Antje Kapek, leader of the parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives.

“We need radical new ways for people to stay in their homes.

Please negotiate tough here. "

Backlog in social policy

It is unlikely that the Greens will be able to achieve much against the FDP on this point.

But some Greens imagine that the pressure of the green base could even be helpful for the green explorers in further negotiations.

In the end, the party lets its members vote on the coalition agreement in a primary election.

Green officials also admitted that there was still room for improvement.

The deputy party leader Ricarda Lang, himself a member of the exploratory commission, said: "We will still have to deliver on social policy." Taking billions of euros to account within ten years.

Robert Habeck admitted that the Greens “had to record losses in this paper”, so they could neither agree on a speed limit nor on higher taxes for the “super-rich”.

But it would be a “stair joke of history” if the Greens, who wanted to expect so much from society, were not ready to expect anything from themselves.

It is about the proof "whether we are a mature party that is able to govern this country," said Habeck.

Anton Hofreiter, parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, also tried to mediate the compromises.

“We have to be aware that we did not get fifty percent in the election”, so the green program cannot be implemented “one-to-one”.

Co-party leader Annalena Baerbock said there was still a lot to do in the coalition negotiations.

Not only did she mean the possibility of pushing through even more green content, she also expressed concern that the partners, for their part, might try to shift things in their direction.

“It will be a big, tough board.” In the coming week, the three parties want to try their hand at it.