Finding the Will to Compromise in Germany

With general elections on Sept. 18 producing no clear winner, political parties are scrambling to hold talks to form a future government. Among the possible constellations, the so-called "grand coalition" between the two main parties, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Christian Democrats (CDU), is seen as a serious option. The others include an alliance between the CDU, their preferred coalition partners, the free-market liberal FDP and the Greens, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's junior coalition partner in the government for the past seven years. The third likely combination includes the SPD, the FDP and the Greens.

Whichever constellation finally comes to power, it will face battleground areas like labor market reform, as well as possible points of compromise like foreign policy.

Click on the links below to find out more about the unbridgeable differences and the potential for common ground between the different parties.