Angela Merkel’s conservatives clinch grand coalition with Social Democrats

After four long months, Germany will wake up to a proposal for a new government today.

The CDU has sought a coalition since the September 24 vote. Early this year they settled their last hopes on the Social Democrats, with a bid to continue the parties’ “grand coalition”.

Working late into Wednesday morning, party representatives hammered out the last details of their plan. The SPD seems to have made major political gains — it is now set to take control of six ministries, two of the most crucial being finance and labour. With these branches under the centre-left’s control, expect a push to end fixed-term contracts while implementing worker-friendly policy in the years to come.

Additionally, pro-EU SPD leader Martin Schulz is expected to become foreign minister. If he does, expect Germany to provide further bailouts for struggling countries, and possibly taking steps towards French President Macron’s desired Eurozone reform. However, nothing is certain until the coalition is approved by 460,000 SPD members in the coming weeks, a decision that is strongly contested within the party.