Traffic light coalition agreement: Now the parties have to agree

After the leaders of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP agreed on a coalition agreement to form the first nationwide traffic light coalition, it is now members and delegates who have their turn.

The Greens will start a ballot this Thursday.

Its 125,000 members are to vote not only on the agreements of the potential government partners, but also on the Greens' personnel board for the future cabinet.

The personnel list should be announced at the start of the ballot.

With the SPD and FDP, party congresses are to approve the contract at the beginning of December.

Although all parties had to cut back on their positions and make compromises in the coalition negotiations, the new Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz (SPD) assumes that the contract will be approved by all parties.

“I'm very confident about that.

It is a good result from the point of view of all three parties, “he said on Wednesday evening in an ARD focal point.

Scholz wants a cabinet with equal representation

Scholz also promised that the future cabinet will be made up of equal numbers of women and men.

“I have always said that it is important to me that parity also applies in the cabinet.

And I stick to my words. "

According to the schedule of the three parties, Scholz is to be elected Chancellor in the Bundestag in the week from December 6th.

After 16 years the era of Angela Merkel (CDU), who did not run again in the federal election on September 26th, ends.

Germany is facing a political turning point.

The ballot in the Greens will kick off in the afternoon (from 4 p.m.) with a federal-state forum in Berlin, where the results will be discussed.

The strike vote should take ten days and be possible digitally or by letter.

A simple majority is necessary for the adoption of the coalition agreement and approval of the personnel board.

There was no quorum, it was said.

It will be interesting to see whether the members in particular consider the agreements on climate protection to be sufficient or not.

"Dare to make more progress"

The SPD, Greens and FDP concluded negotiations on the coalition agreement on Wednesday.

Two months after the federal election, they laid the foundation for the first traffic light federal government.

“The traffic light is up,” said Scholz in Berlin.

“We are united by the will to make the country better,” he emphasized.

It is not about a policy of the lowest common denominator, "but a policy of great impact," said Scholz.

"We want to dare to make more progress."

Green chairman Robert Habeck described the coalition agreement as a “document of courage and confidence”.

"The model of this government is an active society, an investing state and a Germany that simply works." FDP leader Christian Lindner emphasized: "What is now being formed is a middle-class government that will lead the country forward."

Among other things, the following was stipulated in the coalition agreement: The rent brake is to be extended.

In areas with a tight housing market, rents should only be allowed to rise by up to 11 percent within three years instead of the previous 15 percent.

Electricity customers are to be relieved by abolishing the EEG surcharge on January 1, 2023.

In terms of financial policy, the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed to comply with the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law from 2023.

To protect the Bundeswehr soldiers on missions abroad, it should be possible to arm drones.

German arms exports are to be restricted more effectively with a new law.

In the asylum policy, it was agreed that more refugees will be able to bring their relatives to Germany in the future.

Raise the statutory minimum wage to 12 euros

The SPD, Greens and FDP want to increase the statutory minimum wage from now EUR 9.60 to EUR 12 per hour. They also agreed on the formation of a new Federal Ministry for Building. There are also plans to expand the Ministry of Economic Affairs to include climate protection. By 2030, Germany is to get 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energies. The traffic light parties want to strengthen local public transport and to increase the so-called billion-dollar regionalization funds from next year.

The SPD, Greens and FDP also agreed on the distribution of the departments. With Olaf Scholz, the SPD will in future provide the Chancellor and the Ministry of Interior and Defense, a newly created building ministry, and the departments of health, labor and social affairs as well as economic cooperation. The head of the Chancellery also comes from the SPD. A newly created Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, the Foreign Ministry and the Environment / Consumers, Agriculture / Food and Family departments go to the Greens. The FDP receives the finance, transport, education and justice ministries.

The FDP federal executive named party leader Lindner (finances), general secretary Volker Wissing (transport), the first parliamentary manager Marco Buschmann (justice) and the parliamentary manager Bettina Stark-Watzinger (education).

The taxpayers' association welcomed the announcement that it would again comply with the provisions of the constitutional debt brake from 2023 and set priorities in the federal budget.

His President Reiner Holznagen said: “These are very promising approaches that the traffic lights will have to live up to over the next four years.

But it can't stop with melodious headlines. ”However, Holznagel missed a clear commitment that the waste of tax money should be consistently prosecuted and punished.