https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Germany in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The new, leftist leaders of Germany's Social Democrats offered Angela Merkel's struggling coalition a lifeline at a key congress on Friday but vowed to push for more action on climate protection and public investments. https://www.thelocal.de/20191207/germanys-spd-shifts-left-but-gives-merkel-coalition-a-chance Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:31:01 +0100 germanys-spd-shifts-left-but-gives-merkel-coalition-a-chance The SPD started a membership ballot Tuesday on whether to again govern under Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives after an opinion poll showed them trailing the far-right AfD for the first time. https://www.thelocal.de/20180220/crisis-hit-spd-starts-ballot-on-merkel-coalition Tue, 20 Feb 2018 14:52:16 +0100 crisis-hit-spd-starts-ballot-on-merkel-coalition The popular female premier of tiny Saarland state is set to take over as secretary general of Angela Merkel's conservative party, sources said Monday, fuelling speculation the chancellor is lining up her potential successor. https://www.thelocal.de/20180219/top-official-in-merkels-cdu-to-step-down-party-sources Mon, 19 Feb 2018 09:35:55 +0100 top-official-in-merkels-cdu-to-step-down-party-sources German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Sunday to serve another full four-year term despite growing criticism within her conservative ranks of the sweeping concessions she made to hold onto power. https://www.thelocal.de/20180212/merkel-defies-critics-vows-to-govern-for-full-four-year-term Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:55:30 +0100 merkel-defies-critics-vows-to-govern-for-full-four-year-term Barely a year after promising to jolt Germany's oldest party back to life, Martin Schulz has said he will step down as leader of the Social Democrats - weakened by a poll debacle and a U-turn too many. https://www.thelocal.de/20180208/hero-to-loser-the-broken-promises-of-spd-leader-schulz Thu, 08 Feb 2018 09:45:33 +0100 hero-to-loser-the-broken-promises-of-spd-leader-schulz Coalition talks between Germany's centre-left and conservative parties have been finalized and a deal to form a fourth Merkel government has been struck. https://www.thelocal.de/20180207/coalition-talks-drag-on-into-third-extra-day Wed, 07 Feb 2018 10:06:45 +0100 coalition-talks-drag-on-into-third-extra-day Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats embark on a final round of talks on Tuesday to seal a coalition deal and end months of political limbo in Europe's top economy. https://www.thelocal.de/20180206/parties-in-final-push-for-new-merkel-government Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:28:21 +0100 parties-in-final-push-for-new-merkel-government Talks between the top German parties on forming a new government for Chancellor Angela Merkel's fourth term spilled into overtime Monday but confidence appeared to be growing they would strike a deal. https://www.thelocal.de/20180205/confidence-grows-for-deal-on-new-merkel-government Mon, 05 Feb 2018 11:39:10 +0100 confidence-grows-for-deal-on-new-merkel-government Shortly before the end of grand coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, support for the Social Democrats (SPD) has reached a historic low of 18 percent, according to a new survey. https://www.thelocal.de/20180202/spd-hits-record-low Fri, 02 Feb 2018 11:33:05 +0100 spd-hits-record-low Germany's parliament voted after a heated debate on Thursday to resume family reunions for temporary refugees from mid-year but sharply restrict the number of relatives arriving at 1,000 a month. https://www.thelocal.de/20180201/bundestag-votes-to-sharply-cap-refugee-family-reunions Thu, 01 Feb 2018 15:23:24 +0100 bundestag-votes-to-sharply-cap-refugee-family-reunions Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives agreed with the Social Democrats on Tuesday to allow refugee family reunions to bring up to 1,000 people a month to the country, removing a key hurdle in their talks to form a government. https://www.thelocal.de/20180130/union-reaches-agreement-with-spd-on-refugee-family-reunions Tue, 30 Jan 2018 13:36:01 +0100 union-reaches-agreement-with-spd-on-refugee-family-reunions At the weekend the Social Democrats (SPD) voted to continue coalition talks with Angela Merkel’s conservatives. But the left-wing of the party believe they can still collapse the talks. https://www.thelocal.de/20180124/how-the-left-wing-of-the-spd-are-still-trying-to-scupper-a-new-government Wed, 24 Jan 2018 17:40:09 +0100 how-the-left-wing-of-the-spd-are-still-trying-to-scupper-a-new-government While Social Democrats (SPD) leader Martin Schulz continues to promote the new edition of a grand coalition after an agreement was reached with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives on Friday, more and more of his colleagues are speaking out against it. https://www.thelocal.de/20180116/proposed-coalition-deal-met-with-resistance-among-social-democrats Tue, 16 Jan 2018 13:02:34 +0100 proposed-coalition-deal-met-with-resistance-among-social-democrats Nearly three months after Germany’s general election, the Social Democrats are considering a “KoKo” or a “cooperation coalition” with Merkel’s conservatives. But what exactly could this agreement entail? https://www.thelocal.de/20171213/the-spd-in-a-koko-what-you-need-to-know Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:28:37 +0100 the-spd-in-a-koko-what-you-need-to-know The head of Germany's Social Democrats, Martin Schulz, said on Monday he had been urged by French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to join Chancellor Angela Merkel's next government and push for EU reforms. https://www.thelocal.de/20171205/schulz-says-eu-allies-urged-him-to-join-merkel-government Tue, 05 Dec 2017 10:21:38 +0100 schulz-says-eu-allies-urged-him-to-join-merkel-government Germany came in for a political first on Tuesday as a new poll showed combined support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government dropped below 50 percent for the first time. https://www.thelocal.de/20160531/support-for-merkel-govt-dips-below-50-percent Tue, 31 May 2016 11:00:41 +0200 support-for-merkel-govt-dips-below-50-percent Voters are abandoning Germany's ruling grand coalition government for smaller parties, a poll released on Wednesday suggested, amid dissatisfaction with in-fighting and squabbles. https://www.thelocal.de/20140305/forsa-poll-shows-voters-disappointed-with-german-grand-coalition-government Wed, 05 Mar 2014 10:07:00 +0100 forsa-poll-shows-voters-disappointed-with-german-grand-coalition-government Germany's junior government coalition partner, the centre-left Social Democrats, seem to the public to be defining policy more than Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, according to a survey. https://www.thelocal.de/20140211/social-democrats-more-influential-in-coalition Tue, 11 Feb 2014 13:41:00 +0100 social-democrats-more-influential-in-coalition Merkel's "grand coalition" government is such an extreme combination of passivity and aggression, it is practically sado-masochist, Malte Lehming argues in Cicero magazine this month. https://www.thelocal.de/20140204/merkels-sado-masochist-government-not-so-grand Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:11:00 +0100 merkels-sado-masochist-government-not-so-grand The German parliament elected Angela Merkel to her third term as chancellor on Tuesday morning. Merkel won 462 of the 631 votes from the members of parliament. https://www.thelocal.de/20131217/parliament-elects-merkel-to-third-term-as-chancellor Tue, 17 Dec 2013 11:23:00 +0100 parliament-elects-merkel-to-third-term-as-chancellor