Germany set to announce new center-left government, marking end of Merkel era

The deal will mark a shift to the left for Germany after more than a decade and a half in power for Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats, which will now head into opposition. But few expect drastic departures in policy from a government under Scholz, who served as finance minister in Merkel’s outgoing cabinet.

Still, for both Germany and wider Europe where Merkel had taken on the role of a de facto leader, it marks the end of an era.

Scholz will only formally become chancellor when he is voted in by the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, which is expected to happen next month. The coalition deal also has to be formally voted in by the parties.

Assuming that happens smoothly, Scholz will take over the reins of a country being ravaged by a new wave of coronavirus infections, with Germany hitting record numbers of cases in recent weeks.

As finance minister during the pandemic, he built a reputation as a steady hand, but he will also face broader challenges of geopolitical struggles with Russia and China and an ongoing migration crisis on the European Union’s borders with Belarus.

Then there is the task of steering a three-way coalition made up of parties with different ideologies and aims. Known as the “traffic light” coalition because of the party colors of its three factions, it is not the most natural of alliances.

The Social Democrats’ aims of strengthening the welfare state and the environmental policies of the Greens have not sat easily with the tax-hike averse Free Democrats. But the parties have beaten their promise to have a new coalition in place before Christmas.