Angela Merkel ended months of political paralysis yesterday by reaching a deal for a new coalition government with the Social Democrats that awarded the centre-left higher spending on pensions and public services, and new sway over the future of the eurozone.
The agreement to renew a “grand coalition” between Germany’s two largest parties would give the SPD both the finance and foreign ministries, allowing it a critical role in shaping Berlin’s policy on Europe over the next four years.
The concessions signal the lengths the chancellor had to go to win over the SPD, many of whose members dread the thought of another four years in government with her Christian Democrats and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU.