Bundesregierung: Koalitionsausschuss beendet Sitzung nach vier Stunden

In Berlin, the Union and SPD leaders concluded their discussions in the Koalitionsausschuss, or coalition committee, after approximately four hours. At 10:08 PM, CSU leader Markus Söder left the Chancellor's office, followed by SPD president Lars Klingbeil a minute later. The outcomes of the meeting are expected to be reported on Thursday, presumably in writing, according to sources from the coalition.

The main topics of the session were the ongoing implementation of reform initiatives, with the atmosphere described as "good" and "very constructive," though not "spectacular." Chancellor Friedrich Merz had called for a renewed commitment to the agreed-upon reform course before the session, despite Union and SPD's significant losses in the September state elections.

Merz anticipated that the coalition contract and the July reform package would remain "unchanged as the business foundation for the coalition's work," but he did not assume the reform package would be fully implemented by Christmas. He hoped, however, that they would have it "in dry papers next spring." The coalition's faction leaders had agreed by late August to bring the entire package through the Bundestag by the end of the year.

It was decided in July by the Koalitionsausschuss and encompasses regulations for the areas of pensions, care, labor market, and taxes. The aftermath of the elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin was expected to be discussed, as the latter saw the election of an AfD politician as Landtagspräsident, in a secret vote, with allegations of CDU support.

The SPD and Union felt aggrieved at the possibility of an SPD-Linke coalition in Berlin, with the latter viewed by the Union as partially antisemitic and left-extremist. CSU Landesgruppenchef Alexander Hoffmann stated that this contradicts the coalition contract, which excludes cooperation with "constitutionally hostile" and "democracy hostile" parties.