Simon Toubeau
The victory of Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany’s recent federal election, which all but assures that Merz will be the next chancellor, is an encouraging development for the European Union. The high level of political alignment between German and EU leadership will enable the bloc to implement economic reforms, determine how to boost public spending in vital areas, and develop a new fiscal framework.
Almost immediately after the election, Merz entered into coalition talks with the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This tried-and-true formula – it will be the fourth CDU-SPD coalition since 2005 – will provide more ideological cohesion and stability than the fractious “traffic-light” coalition – the SPD, the Free Democrats (FDP), and the Greens – that preceded it. Above all, the shift in political gravity from the center left to the center right aligns the German government with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber.
Von der Leyen, a veteran CDU politician with extensive ministerial experience in the German federal government, has consolidated her authority after winning a second term last year, bolstered by several policy successes, such as a new trade agreement with Mercosur. Merz’s relationship with von der Leyen – the protégé of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who sidelined Merz to become CDU leader – could be fraught, but they have so far managed to avoid any head-to-head antagonism.
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