Six hours of top-level talks to forge a German coalition government have stalled over refugee issues. Negotiators adjourned at two in the morning saying only they were "determined to find solutions."
Coalition talks continued until 2 a.m. Monday morningImage: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Fischer
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Six hours of nighttime talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats led by Martin Schulz were adjourned early Monday morning with "all sides" ostensibly still working toward a February 4 deadline.
"The work and the discussion continues; perhaps not always at such hours," said Michael Grosse-Brömer, manager of Merkel's Bundestag parliamentary alliance comprising her Christian Democrats (CDU) and Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU).
In what was portrayed as a joint statement, Grosse-Brömer said "all sides" were "determined to find solutions."
A Social Democrat (SPD) source quoted by Reuters said "squealing" summed up the tone of Sunday night's talks, with the three parties still at odds on a SPD call to allow relatives abroad to join refugees granted subsidiary protection status. The unusual description is taken from a speech by SPD parliamentary leader Andrea Nahles, who promised at a recent party congress that the SPD would negotiate at coalition talks "until the other side starts squealing."
The issue had been forwarded to "expert level," a reference to working groups drawn from the three parties, that had also consulted throughout the weekend.
Grosse-Brömer last Friday sketched out the February 4 deadline and agenda, saying negotiators were split into 18 working groups.
Earlier reports said 15 lead negotiators at Sunday night's main six-hour round of talks involving Merkel, Schulz and Bavaria's CSU had "gone through" topics of foreign policy, development aid cooperation, defense and human rights.
Alongside refugee policy, however, key disagreements also remained on labor policy and health insurance — following policy changes demanded at an SPD party conference in Bonn a week ago that handed Schulz only a narrow go-ahead to seek a further grand coalition.
Renewed failure could force Merkel to head a risky minority government or trigger a second German federal election only months after last September's federal poll that left the conservatives and SPD with heavy losses.
Germany was stunned in November by the unusual collapse of a post-election coalition bid — intended between Merkel's conservatives, the opposition liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and opposition Greens.
A history of Germany's coalition governments
Only once has federal Germany been ruled by a single party with a parliamentary majority. Coalitions are therefore the norm. DW looks at the various governing combinations that have presided in the Bundestag.
Image: Reuters
CDU/CSU - FDP - DP (1949-1957)
The first democratic government to rule West Germany since the end of World War II saw Christian Democratic Union leader Konrad Adenauer form a governing coalition with the Free Democrats and the German Party (a now-defunct national conservative party). When Adenauer's conservatives won re-election four years later, he once again turned to the same coalition partners.
Image: picture-alliance/Vack
CDU/CSU - FDP (1961-1966)
After four years of ruling West Germany on their own between 1957 and 1961, the conservative Union lost their majority in the Bundestag and were forced to enter into coalition with the Free Democrats again. Adenauer resigned in 1963 for his part in the so-called "Spiegel" scandal. His Minister of Economic Affairs Ludwig Erhard (left) was elected by parliament to take over
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
CDU/CSU - SPD (1966-1969)
The first ever "grand coalition" was not the product of an election. Ludwig Erhart was re-elected in 1965 and continued to rule alongside the FDP. However, the following year the Free Democrats left the government over budget disputes. Erhart also resigned and Kurt Kiesinger (right) was chosen to take over. With the FDP out, he governed with the Social Democrats, led by Willy Brandt (left).
Image: dpa
SPD - FDP (1969-1982)
Willy Brandt became Germany's first Social Democratic chancellor in the post-war period. Despite winning fewer votes than the CDU/CSU, Brandt struck a deal with the FDP to give them a narrow majority in the Bundestag. It wouldn't be the last time the liberals would be called out for a perceived lack of loyalty. In 1974, Brandt was replaced by Helmut Schimdt, who went on to win two more elections.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
CDU/CSU - FDP (1982-1998)
The 13-year friendship between the SPD and FDP ended in 1980 as the two parties' differing ideologies became irreconcilable. The liberals again switched sides that year, dropping out of the coalition and seeking a deal with the conservatives. That caused the SPD-led government to collapse and a reborn CDU/CSU-FDP coalition formed under the leadership of Helmut Kohl (pictured).
Image: AP
CDU - DSU - Democratic Awakening (1990)
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany held its first ever elections. The Christian Democrats under Lothar de Maiziere took over 40 percent of the vote. They went into coalition with two small parties: German Social Union and Democratic Awakening, whose members included one Angela Merkel. In October that year, the government signed the reunification treaty with West Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Wolfgang Kumm
SPD - Green Party (1998-2005)
In 2002, Helmut Kohl's 16-year rule came to an end and the Social Democrats under Gerhard Schröder returned to power. The SPD formed a coalition with the Green party, who became a governing party less than 20 years after being founded. Unlike under Brandt, the SPD now led a left-wing government, rather than a center-left coalition. The SPD-Green party coalition remained in power until 2005.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/W. Baum
CDU/CSU - SPD (2005-2009)
"Grand coalitions" do not come easily. When the first exit polls came in, both Schröder (right) and Angela Merkel (left) declared themselves the winner. In the end, Merkel's conservatives defeated the SPD by just 1 percent. Germany's two largest parties agreed to form the country's second-ever grand coalition.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Bensch
CDU/CSU - FDP (2009-2013)
The "grand coalition" experiment ended in 2009, after the SPD picked up a disappointing 23 percent in the federal elections. The Free Democrats, by contrast, gained almost 5 percent to give them over 14 percent of the vote. Merkel and the FDP's Guido Westerwelle (left) formed a coalition with relative ease. It was, after all, Germany's 11th CDU/CSU-FDP government.
Image: Getty Images/A. Rentz
CDU/CSU - SPD (2013-?)
After taking more than 40 percent of the vote, Merkel's conservatives probably weren't expecting to rule with the SPD. But with her old allies the FDP failing to meet the 5 percent threshold to enter the Bundestag, options were limited. Merkel called on the SPD to join her and "take on the responsibility to build a stable government." She made the same speech again four years later.
