By Dominik Sauter

Berlin – The negotiations between CDU, CSU and SPD about forming a new coalition government for Germany are becoming increasingly difficult. After more than 4 meetings of the so-called “Grosse Runde”, consisting of more than 70 politicians, the parties have still not made any progress on issues such as road charges for cars or new pension rules for mothers whose babies were born before 1992.

Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) has said numerous times that a new coalition government should be installed before Christmas. However, some of the task groups taking care of the details of a future coalition contract seem to be incapable of reaching a compromise. Experts say that if those groups won’t get the hang of it by the end of this month, reelections will become increasingly likely to happen. Surveys show that the Social Democrats are likely to lose even more seats in the Bundestag, should there be a new round of general elections.

Additionally, CDU and CSU could either gain enough seats to form a government without a coalition partner. Just days before the SPD’s party conference, Secretary General Andrea Nahles has announced her party is not willing to rule out a potential coalition with the Left Party in future Bundestag elections. On the other hand, reelections could also spark new talks between the Union and the Green Party. After all, Angela Merkel is still capable of surprising everyone.