Social Democrat Olaf Scholz was preparing to take over as German chancellor after agreeing a coalition deal on Wednesday that aims to modernise Europe's largest economy, accelerate its green transition and bring the curtain down on the Angela Merkel era.
The centre-left Social Democrats said they would present their three-way agreement with the ecologist Greens and the libertarian Free Democrats at a news conference at 3 p.m. in Berlin following two months of talks.will install Germany's first three-way federal coalition government since the 1950s and end 16 years of Merkel-led conservative government, marking a new era for relations with Europe and the rest of the world.
A four-page memorandum on the deal that Reuters obtained on Wednesday showed they had also agreed to raise the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour from 9.6 euros, resulting in a pay rise for around 10 million people. While the Greens and SPD are widely seen as natural centre-left partners, the fiscally hawkish FDP have historically been closer to Germany's conservatives.Presiding over what could be her final cabinet meeting, Merkel bade her colleagues farewell, and Scholz presented the EU's longest-serving leader with a tree to plant in her garden, according to a person at the meeting.
The main obstacle in talks were divisions on how to finance the transition towards a green economy and how quickly to move, according to party sources.
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