Germany has vowed to “terminate” the residency of anyone who engages in “incitement and anti-Semitism” in a coalition agreement that promises full border controls and pushbacks, a tighter asylum approach and expedited deportation of criminal foreign nationals.
As Berlin’s state government moves to expel two Irish pro-Palestinian campaigners on public order grounds, the federal coalition agreement promises a crackdown on “racism, anti-Semitism and hostility to Israel”.
“Anyone who abuses their stay in Germany by committing significant crimes or engaging in violent proxy conflicts on German soil must have their stay terminated,” the agreement continues.
Six weeks after winning Germany’s federal election, the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its chairman Friedrich Merz face two additional challenges: a global trade war and a poll shock that has left his party neck-and-neck with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Merz said his government would focus on strengthening the “political centre” to “tackle the insecurities of the past years such as irregular migration”.
“If people have the feeling that the political centre is strong enough,” he added, “it will be possible pull the rug out from those who diverge from the political centre.”
His Bavarian ally Markus Soder said Germany would “return to the time before 2015” – the peak of the Merkel-era refugee crisis – regarding border controls.
Despite a tougher migration line, Lars Klingbeil, the co-leader of the Social Democratic Party – the coalition’s junior partner – insisted that “it was always clear that the fundamental right to asylum is untouchable” and that all migration measures would be co-ordinated with EU partners.
Klingbeil (47) will be vice-chancellor and finance minister, overseeing at least €1 trillion in borrowing for infrastructure and defence spending. In addition Klingbeil will oversee tax cuts for low and medium earners, company tax credits for investment and, from 2028, corporate tax cuts of one percentage point annually for five years.
The new programme downgrades climate protection in favour of competitiveness measures such as cuts to energy prices and red tape as well as more restrictive welfare policies.
Along with the chancellery, Merz’s CDU will take ministries for economics and energy, education and research, health, transport and a new digitalisation department. For the first time in 60 years, a CDU minister will also head the foreign ministry.
At European Union level, Berlin said membership candidates’ accession efforts “should be honoured more” but that further enlargement “must go hand in hand” with fundamental reform of institutions and consensus voting.
Completing banking union appears as unlikely under this administration as further EU-level borrowing: the coalition agreement insists “Germany will continue to not be liable for others’ commitments” while EU borrowing outside the multiannual budget “must remain the exception”.
Berlin also wants “considerably more consequential” use of tools to punish member states that breach union rule-of-law provisions.
After years of domestic bickering and conflicting positions at EU level, the new coalition parties have agreed to co-ordinate positions in weekly interdepartmental meetings.
There is no mention of long-range missiles for Ukraine as previously promised by Merz. Instead, Germany promises to arm Ukraine so it “can defend effectively and assert oneself in negotiations”.
The Bavarian CSU has three ministries: interior, agriculture and a new department for “research, technology and space travel”, seven years after Bavaria set up its own ministry to finance and develop research into space travel.
As well as finance, the SPD will head justice, labour and welfare, defence, environment, development and building ministry.
The coalition’s final hurdle – backing for the deal from CDU/CSU delegate party conferences and an SPD membership vote – is likely to be cleared by early May.
