By Andreas Rinke, Vera Eckert and Matthias Williams BERLIN (Reuters) -German election winner Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) concluded preliminary talks on forming a coalition government on Saturday,

FILE PHOTO: Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party CDU, looks on, on the day they give a statement after coalition talks, in Berlin, Germany, March 4, 2025. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) have agreed on a framework document for further negotiations on forming a government, according to Der Spiegel. Less than two weeks after the early elections to the Bundestag,

In Germany, coalition governments are typically formed through a two-step process: parties first engage in exploratory talks to assess potential alliances before entering formal coalition negotiations

The co-leader of Germany's Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, said on Wednesday that his party was in talks with election winner Friedrich Merz and his conservatives about agreeing on a timetable for negotiations towards the creation of a government.

Germany’s conservative bloc and the Social Democrats agreed to deepen talks over forming a new government, a step forward as pressure builds on Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz to implement sweeping reforms.

According to Friedrich Merz, his conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democratic Party leaders agreed on common principles on migration and the economy. View on euronews

Election winner Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU, its Bavarian sister party CSU, and the Social Democrats (SPD) have taken a major step toward forming a coalition government, the heads of the parties said.