German coalition talks drag on, president warns Europe at stake

[webfact]

German coalition talks drag on, president warns Europe at stake

By Andreas Rinke

 

Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for exploratory talks about forming a new coalition government at the SPD headquarters in Berlin, Germany, January 11, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party grouping and Social Democrats (SPD) toiled deep into the night on Thursday to overcome differences on tax cuts and other issues that threatened to block a new "grand coalition" government.

 

Negotiators, who have vowed to reach a decision by Friday on whether to launch formal coalition talks, predicted many more hours of hard negotiations.

 

Several negotiators left the talks at SPD headquarters around midnight, saying they would return later. Others played cards to pass the time. One participant told the German newspaper Bild: "The negotiations are completely stuck."

 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, keen to end months of uncertainty and avoid new elections, urged the would-be coalition partners to rise above politics and keep in mind the impact of the coalition talks for Europe as a whole.

 

Merkel had warned earlier it would be "a tough day", but said she recognised that Germans expected results. The German leader is counting on the left-leaning SPD to renew the coalition that ruled for two of her three previous terms after failing to hammer out a deal with two smaller parties.

 

Steinmeier, who is pressing both sides to reach a deal, told foreign diplomats in Berlin the delay in forming a government was unprecedented, but the German constitution provided clear rules for the situation, and everyone was taking it seriously.

 

"Those who bear responsibility in the institutions and parties ... know that they have this responsibility not only towards the members of their own party and their own political future. Rather, it is always also a responsibility for Europe, and for reliability, partnership and engagement in international politics," he said.

 

Merkel, still widely respected abroad after more than 12 years in power, is scrambling to prevent a further erosion of her personal authority at home and end months of uncertainty that have started to weaken Germany's international influence.

 

Reiner Haseloff, premier of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, told reporters late on Thursday that he remained optimistic and he did not expect the talks to fail.

 

But another participant in the talks said the two blocs were still struggling to find common ground on the most divisive issues - taxes, pensions, migration and healthcare.

 

One SPD negotiator told the Bild newspaper that Bavaria's CSU, sister party to Merkel's Christian Democrats, was blocking an agreement on raising tax rates for the wealthiest. A conservative negotiator told Bild, "Everything is on the table."

 

Germany's flourishing economy, whose growth hit a six-year high in 2017, and the resulting record 38.4-billion-euro ($46.2 billion) public sector surplus, offer negotiators a windfall that could fund new programmes.

 

"What is your plan for Germany?" Bild asked Merkel on Thursday. "Fact is: the money is there for it," it added, suggesting she restructure healthcare, promote public order or outline new targets for tackling climate change.

 

The DIHK Chambers of Industry and Commerce suggested she use the fiscal windfall to simplify bureaucracy, while others pushed for tax cuts.

 

But SPD leader Martin Schulz, a former president of the European Parliament, is calling for more spending to create a United States of Europe by 2025, seen as an expensive distraction by many conservatives.

 

"On the last day of exploratory talks we will make clear that above all this must be a new start for the European Union," he told reporters. "If we join a government it will be on the condition that it makes Europe strong."

 

Should the parties miss their self-imposed deadline, they could still extend the talks, but negotiators said that was unlikely. Merkel could also try to form a minority government, although she has said she favours new elections.

 

Some progress has been made, including draft plans in which negotiators agreed to reduce the use of the weed killer glyphosate, and to drop a target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels.

 

Merkel ruled with the SPD in two of her three terms in office, including in the last parliament from 2013-2017.

 

But both parties bled support in the Sept. 24 election, which saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) enter the Bundestag lower house of parliament for the first time.

 

Many SPD members fear governing with conservatives again would further weaken their party after it suffered the worst result in September's vote since the modern Federal Republic was founded in 1949.

 

Kevin Kuehnert, head of the Jusos youth branch of the SPD, said he planned a 'NoGroKo' tour of Germany to persuade party delegates to vote against the grand coalition.

 

He told broadcaster ARD late on Thursday he had folders of messages of support from SPD members who wanted the SPD go back to its roots and focus more on helping the weakest in society.

 

(Additional reporting by Michelle Martin, Holger Hansen, Madeline Chambers and Andrea Shalal; Writing by Paul Carrel, Thomas Escritt and Andrea Shalal; editing by Ralph Boulton and Toby Chopra)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-12

[hansnl]

Don't think Europe is at stake.

The EU on the other hand, may hopefully be so.

The German-French hegemony of the EU is frightening, at least. 

[bumpkin]

The United States of Germany  by 2025 ? ..........  Kaiserin Angela Dorothea

[bartender100]

And they say the UK government is weak

[Trouble]

They got a tax windfall and the politicians can't wait to spend it. Typical of them everywhere.  No chance to save some for a rainy day. 

[Krataiboy]

SPD leader Martin Schulz, a former president of the European Parliament, is calling for more spending to create a United States of Europe by 2025

 

Oops! The globalists' slip is showing.

[Sir Dude]

Well Herr Angela, could be some schadenfreude in the offing here...haha

[Retiredandhappyhere]

Many Europeans were laughing at the woes and alleged weakness of the UK Government following the last (admittedly unnecessary) UK election, but are we permitted to find the current situation in Germany slightly amusing?  It would seem that whatever convoluted solution to the problem emerges from the current talks, no individual party forming the new coalition is going to be completely happy and any planned EU developments might be delayed.

 

Strange how the "United States of Europe" concept, previously often denied by many pro-EU supporters, has reared its ugly head now in a very public way. 

[mrwebb8825]

On 1/12/2018 at 8:07 AM, webfact said:

Negotiators, who have vowed to reach a decision by Friday on whether to launch formal coalition talks, predicted many more hours of hard negotiations.

This pretty much sums up what's really wrong with governments. Needing negotiators to talk about the rules of starting talks are looking at having talks to decide if talks should start. 

[ilostmypassword]

9 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

This pretty much sums up what's really wrong with governments. Needing negotiators to talk about the rules of starting talks are looking at having talks to decide if talks should start. 

Because when corporations merge, they don't have preliminary talks before deciding whether it's worthwhile to further pursue a  merger?