Following recent state elections in Brandenburg, the Social Democrats (SPD) and Christian Democrats (CDU) have agreed to continue their collaboration and enter coalition talks. SPD state premier Matthias Platzeck and CDU state party leader Jörg Schönbohm said they've made considerable progress in their discussions. "We can find mutually agreeable solutions for the difficulties that lie ahead of us," Schönbohm said. Two of the main breaking points are consolidation of the state budget and educational policy. The SPD wants to maintain the six-year elementary school system, while the CDU has proposed shortening it to four years. According to Platzeck, this issue has already been discussed, with Schönbohm signalling willingness to compromise. The SPD also held talks with the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the successor party to the communists that ruled East Germany, but they broke down on Thursday over differences in the implementation of the Hartz IV reforms.