The work of the new German government has begun. For the CDU, the CSU and the SPD, the challenges ahead are enormous. The economy is in a slump and the far-right AfD is the strongest opposition party.
New Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces a plethora of challengesImage: Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS
Advertisement
What do the previous center-left coalition government of Social Democrats (SPD), environmentalist Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the new alliance of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), and the SPD have in common? Apart from the fact that both of them took around 10 weeks to form a coalition agreement, not much. At least, that's what the conservative parties maintain.
"The change in direction that many of the population want is set down on paper," said CSU leader Markus Söder at the signing of the coalition agreement in early May. "Strengthening the economy, limiting illegal migration, putting Germany back in order, and giving it new momentum." And he added, this must now be done "at top speed."
Among the Social Democrats, however, there is little inclination to fundamentally change everything that they had put in place over the past three and a half years in power. They are resisting overly drastic cuts, especially in social policy.
The chancellery is now back in the hands of the CDU. Its leader, Friedrich Merz, has become the head of government, while SPD leader Lars Klingbeil is his vice chancellor and finance minister. In total, there are 17 ministries. The CDU and SPD each lead seven, the CSU three. What is striking is that the CDU has mainly sent lawyers into the race, while the SPD has appointed far more women than men.
Meet Germany's new government
Germany's new government is in place. Cabinet ministers include loyal allies of CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz and SPD leader Lars Klingbeil. However, some of the appointments are surprising.
Image: Christian Mang/REUTERS
Chancellor: Friedrich Merz
After taking two rounds to get elected in the Bundestag, 69-year-old lawyer Merz faces enormous challenges in domestic and foreign policy. Germany's economy is in the doldrums, while the right-wing extremist AfD continues to make gains. The CDU leader wants to boost the economy and limit migration. He has his work cut out for him: never has a new chancellor been as unpopular as Friedrich Merz.
Image: Uwe Koch/HMB-Media/IMAGO
Finance Minister: Lars Klingbeil (SPD)
The SPD leader has not only taken over the finance portfolio, but is also deputy chancellor. This makes the 47-year-old a central figure in the SPD despite the disastrous result in February's election. Klingbeil studied political science, sociology and history. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2005. He has no government experience to date.
Image: Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/picture alliance
Defense Minister: Boris Pistorius (SPD)
Boris Pistorius is the only SPD minister to retain his post. He regularly tops the rankings of the most popular politicians. The 65-year-old has been in office since January 2023 and has also earned a high reputation in the Bundeswehr. Pistorius wants to make the troops "war ready" — and is set to receive the money needed to do so.
Image: Anna Ross/dpa/picture alliance
Foreign Minister: Johann Wadephul (CDU)
Johann Wadephul, 62, has been a Bundestag lawmaker since 2009 and has focused on foreign policy. The doctor of law and former soldier is well-connected internationally and is seen to be diplomatic and pragmatic. He has a lot in common with Merz, with whom he will likely work in unison on foreign policy.
Image: Political-Moments/IMAGO
Interior Minister: Alexander Dobrindt (CSU)
Alexander Dobrindt already served as transport minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel. As the new interior minister, the 54-year-old sociologist will push for a tougher stance on migration: more rejections at borders, suspension of family reunification and deportations to Syria and Afghanistan. Dobrindt rejects dual citizenship as well as equal rights for same-sex couples.
Image: Bernd Elmenthaler/IMAGO
Labor and Social Affairs Minister: Bärbel Bas (SPD)
Bärbel Bas gained nationwide prominence when she became president of the Bundestag in 2021. She hails from a working-class background and her path to top political office was not necessarily predetermined. But the 57-year-old from Duisburg persevered and worked her way up. She is in charge of the ministry with the largest budget.
Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance
Economy Minister: Katherina Reiche (CDU)
Katherina Reiche is returning to politics. The 51-year-old chemist, who grew up in East Germany, became a Bundestag lawmaker at the age of 25 and rose to become Parliamentary State Secretary. In 2015, she switched to the business world, becoming the CEO of Westenergie AG. In 2020, she was appointed chairwoman of the National Hydrogen Council, which advises the German government.
Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance
Digitalization and Modernization Minister: Karsten Wildberger
Karsten Wildberger is the big surprise in Merz's lineup. The expert on digital transformation, who heads a brand new ministry, holds a doctorate in physics and has pursued a career in international management that took him to Boston Consulting, T-Mobile and E.ON, among others. Most recently, the 56-year-old was CEO of MediaMarktSaturn, Europe's largest chain of consumer electronics stores.
Image: Malte Ossowski/SvenSimon/picture alliance
Development Minister: Reem Alabali-Radovan (SPD)
The political scientist was born in Moscow to Iraqi parents. The 35-year-old grew up in East Germany, and was previously the Federal Government Commissioner for Integration and Anti-Racism in the Chancellery. Alabali-Radovan has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021; before that, she was integration commissioner for the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Image: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/picture alliance
Justice Minister: Stefanie Hubig (SPD)
The 56-year-old Social Democrat has been education minister in Rhineland-Palatinate since 2016. She is anything but a stranger to the Federal Justice Ministry: the doctor of law from Frankfurt am Main has held several positions there and was state secretary from 2014 to 2016. Before her political career, Hubig worked as a public prosecutor and judge.
Image: Jürgen Heinrich/IMAGO
Environment Minister: Carsten Schneider (SPD)
The 49-year-old hails from Erfurt. He is a trained banker and has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998. He quickly made a name for himself as a financial expert and budget politician for his parliamentary group. Most recently, he was commissioner for Eastern Germany in the Chancellery. Schneider belongs to the conservative part of the center-left SPD, just like Lars Klingbeil.
Research, Technology and Space Minister: Dorothee Bär (CSU)
Dorothee Bär has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2002 and is one of the deputy chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. The 47-year-old has been one of the deputy party leaders of the CSU since 2017. From 2018 to 2021, she was Chancellor Angela Merkel's government commissioner for digitalization. In the 2021 election campaign, she was responsible for digital and technology policy.
Image: Emmanuele Contini/IMAGO
Construction Minister: Verena Hubertz (SPD)
The 37-year-old from Trier came to politics from the world of business. After studying economics, she initially founded and managed a startup company. She entered the Bundestag in 2021. She is considered unpretentious, full of drive and results-oriented, qualities that she needs in her new office. The housing shortage is one of the biggest problems in Germany.
Image: Harald Tittel/dpa/picture alliance
Health Minister: Nina Warken (CDU)
Nina Warken is also an unexpected pick. The 45-year-old joined the CDU when she was studying law, and has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013. She has mainly worked on domestic policy issues and will now have to quickly familiarize herself with health policy.
Image: Arnulf Hettrich/IMAGO
Education and Family Affairs Minister: Karin Prien (CDU)
Karin Prien is considered to be one of the most high-profile education specialists in the CDU. The 59-year-old lawyer has been education minister in Schleswig-Holstein since 2017. She is known for her strong opinions and does not shy away from debate. She was born and grew up in the Netherlands, where her grandparents lived after fleeing the Nazis.
Image: Jens Schicke/IMAGO
Agriculture Minister: Alois Rainer (CSU)
Sixty-year-old Alois Rainer trained as a butcher and helps run the family business, which comprises a restaurant, in the Bavarian Forest. He has been in the Bundestag since 2013 and is responsible for budget and transport issues. He will replace Cem Özdemir, a self-professed vegan and member of the Green Party. For CSU party chief Markus Söder, Rainer symbolizes a turnabout in agricultural policy.
Image: Christoph Hardt/Geisler-Fotopress/picture alliance
Transport Minister: Patrick Schnieder (CDU)
As transport minister, Patrick Schnieder will have a lot of money to spend. A large part of the new €500 billion ($568 bn) fund for infrastructure is to be spent on the renovation of dilapidated transport routes. The 56-year-old lawyer comes from western Germany, has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009, and was most recently parliamentary secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
Image: dts Nachrichtenagentur/IMAGO
Chancellor's Office: Thorsten Frei (CDU)
The 52-year-old lawyer Thorsten Frei is seen as Merz's closest confidant. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013. He has a reputation for always being friendly, is considered to be eloquent and knowledgeable on a broad range of topics. As head of the chancellery, his job is to anticipate trouble and pitfalls for Merz at an early stage, and clear them out of the way.
Image: Bernd Elmenthaler/IMAGO
Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media: Wolfram Weimer
The publisher, historian and journalist Wolfram Weimer is a staunch conservative. The 60-year-old has written books with titles that translate as "The Conservative Manifesto" and "Longing for God." He worked for the conservative dailies FAZ and Die Welt and was editor-in-chief of Cicero and Focus before founding a publishing house. His job will include federal media policy and remembrance culture.
Image: -/teutopress/picture alliance
19 images1 | 19
The CDU/CSU and SPD are an alliance of convenience, forged because the results of the February 23 election yielded no other way to form a majority that did not include the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). However, Chancellor Merz has emphasized that the two parties had grown closer during the coalition negotiations.
"Over time, we found ourselves working more and more closely, in an increasingly collegial and trusting manner. I am very confident that we will succeed in governing our country with strength, foresight, and trust," he said.
More border controls and refusals
The CDU/CSU and SPD see it as their responsibility to prevent the AfD from growing in strength. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said on public broadcaster ARD that this primarily means dealing with the issues that have "made the AfD big," adding that there is "work to be done." The AfD must be "governed away."
Germany will now turn some asylum-seekers away at its borders, Dobrindt said on May 7. He added that exceptions would be made for "vulnerable groups," including pregnant women and children.
Several thousand additional officers are to be deployed to monitor the borders, in addition to the roughly 11,000 federal police officers already on the ground. Increased air surveillance aims to make it easier to identify smugglers and to be able to react more quickly to changes in their routes.
Several of Germany's 16 federal states support the plans. These include Brandenburg, Saxony and Bavaria, which have borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria respectively. However, there was immediate criticism from the neighboring countries. "We are not going to close the borders, but we are going to control the borders more strictly and this stronger control of the borders will also lead to a higher number of rejections," said Dobrindt.
But he also sought to allay concerns. "We will gradually increase this higher number of rejections and the stronger controls at the borders," he added. "We will ensure that, step by step, more police forces are deployed at the borders and can also carry out these pushbacks."
Germany grapples with tougher asylum policy
02:07
This browser does not support the video element.
Germany has no federal budget
In terms of domestic policy, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has had to get to work immediately. It's his job to present a federal budget as quickly as possible for the current year. The previous government fell apart trying to achieve just this back in November. Even a draft for the 2026 budget is already overdue.
The CDU/CSU and SPD have made governing a little easier for themselves with a €500 billion ($567) special fund for investments. Now, as Klingbeil put it, "the biggest modernization in decades" is being launched. "For schools, for the railways, for security, for fast internet, for climate protection, for energy, for mobility, for additional housing."
Advertisement
Too many pensioners, too few skilled workers
Nevertheless, the government will still have to make hefty cuts. The additional debt may only be used for investment and not for social spending. But this is precisely what continues to grow due to the demographic shift in Germany.
Germans are getting older and living longer. A reform of the pension system is urgently needed, but the SPD has insisted on keeping pensions stable. Currently, every fourth euro from the federal budget is paid into the pension funds as a subsidy. The older the population gets, the greater the costs for care and health insurance. Here, too, Klingbeil will have to consider how costs can be reduced.
A lot will depend on how the German economy develops, especially when it comes to financing social spending. And the outlook is bleak, with the country in its third year of recession. Klingbeil has stressed that strengthening the economy is the highest priority.
"Prosperity has to be earned, and that is why this coalition agreement is a clear sign that we want to strengthen industry, attract future industries to Germany, and that we are committed to Made in Germany."
How Merz aims to regain Germany's standing on foreign issues
03:19
This browser does not support the video element.
Merz faces foreign policy challenges
The new government also faces enormous challenges in foreign policy. Following US President Donald Trump's policy shift and in view of the threat from Russia, Germany must redefine its role in Europe and the world.
This is what Merz, a seasoned European politician and transatlanticist, wants to take on as his central task. "Large parts of Europe, the European Union in particular, are waiting for us to once again make a powerful contribution to the success of the European project," he said. The new chancellor plans to set up a National Security Council in the chancellery to bundle foreign policy and security policy decisions going forward.
This article was originally written in German.
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.
