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Merz cabinet

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Merz cabinet

25th Cabinet of the Federal Republic of Germany
Signing of the coalition agreement for the 21st Bundestag on 5 May 2025
Date formed6 May 2025
People and organisations
PresidentFrank-Walter Steinmeier
ChancellorFriedrich Merz
Vice ChancellorLars Klingbeil
Member parties  Christian Democratic Union
  Social Democratic Party
  Christian Social Union in Bavaria
Status in legislatureBlack-Red coalition[1][2][3]
328 / 630 (52%)




Opposition parties  Alternative for Germany
  Alliance 90/The Greens
  The Left
  South Schleswig Voters' Association
Opposition leaderAlice Weidel & Tino Chrupalla (AfD)
History
Election2025 federal election
Legislature terms21st Bundestag
PredecessorScholz

The Merz cabinet (German: Kabinett Merz, pronounced [kabiˈnɛt ˈmɛʁts]) is the 25th and current Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 21st legislative session of the Bundestag. It succeeded the previous cabinet led by Olaf Scholz. The cabinet is led by Friedrich Merz.

The cabinet is composed of Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister-party Christian Social Union (CSU) (which form the CDU/CSU alliance; the so called Union) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). It is the fifth time a governing coalition between Union and SPD has been formed in post-war German history and the first since the Fourth Merkel cabinet led by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2018.[4]

Coalition formation

[edit]
Composition of the 21st Bundestag

The Union (CDU/CSU) with its Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz emerged from 2025 German federal election as the strongest faction in the new Bundestag. However, the CDU/CSU needed coalition partners (as is usual in German politics) in order to form a majority government. The only possibility of forming a coalition with just one other party was a coalition with the SPD. Mathematically, a two-party coalition with the AfD, which is generally considered to be on the far right, would also have been possible; however, the CDU/CSU had ruled this out before the election.[5]

For the coalition negotations the CDU team included Friedrich Merz and other high-ranking officials such as CSU leader Markus Söder, CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann and CDU parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei, CSU parliamentary group leader Alexander Dobrindt, the Minister President of Saxony Michael Kretschmer, the deputy chairwoman of the CDU Karin Prien and CSU politician Dorothee Bär. The SPD delegation was made up of important personalities such as Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Labour Minister Hubertus Heil, as well as the Secretary General Matthias Miersch, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas, the two Minister Presidents Manuela Schwesig and Anke Rehlinger, and the head of the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia Achim Post.[6][7]

Both sides had originally wanted the talks not to commence until 5 March, in view of the 2025 Hamburg state election on 2 March, as well as Carnival (peaking 3 March), which is very popular in some parts of Germany. Subsequently, however, Klingbeil and Merz agreed to an early start in their talks, so exploratory talks between the two parties began in Berlin on 28 February 2025, five days after the election. Merz had set himself the target of forming a coalition by Easter.[8]

From the outset, there were differences of opinion between the CDU and SPD on the reform of the debt brake (which limited the German budget deficit to 0.35% of GDP per year), a possible tax reform, the minimum tax reform, the minimum wage, the citizen's income, immigration, and a new right to vote. On 9 April, both SPD and the CDU/CSU parliamentary groups had reached a coalition agreement to form a new cabinet under Friedrich Merz’s chancellorship. The coalition government would consist of 10 ministers from the CDU/CSU,[a] and 7 from SPD as per the agreement. Additionally, the Vice Chancellor would be nominated by the SPD among 7 of its ministers.[9][10]

Chancellor election

[edit]

The Constitution (Basic Law) requires the President of Germany to propose a Chancellor to the President of the Bundestag for approval by an absolute majority of Bundestag members. Accordingly, after the party leaders of the CDU, CSU and SPD signed their coalition agreement on May 5, Frank-Walter Steinmeier officially proposed Friedrich Merz to Bundestag President Julia Klöckner for election as Chancellor, which was put to the vote the next day by secret ballot.[11]

Although the CDU/CSU and SPD had 328 of 630 members of the Bundestag, in the first round of voting Merz received only 310 votes, below the required 316. This is the first time this has happened in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. After the election result was announced, the session was interrupted.[12][13][14][15]

According to Article 63 (3) of the Basic Law, the election of the Chancellor was now in the second phase: within a period of 14 days, i.e. until May 20, a quarter of the members of the Bundestag could nominate a candidate for election as Federal Chancellor. The number of ballots is not predetermined and is theoretically unlimited. If a candidate is elected in one of these ballots, the President must appoint him or her. If no new Federal Chancellor is elected within this period, a final election must be held “without delay” (unverzüglich) in accordance with Article 63 (4) of the Basic Law. If a candidate achieves the Chancellor majority, he or she must be appointed; if no candidate achieves this majority, the President must decide whether to appoint the candidate with the most votes (relative majority) or dissolve the Bundestag.[14]

Surprised by his failure to win enough votes, Merz's coalition asked the parliament's legal department whether a second vote could be held the same day.[16] During the adjournment of the session, the factions of the Bundestag discussed a second round of voting. All parliamentary groups agreed that the second round of voting should take place on May 6. The CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups once again put forward Friedrich Merz as their candidate. However, a resolution of the Bundestag was required for this second ballot, as the motion for the election proposal was distributed as a printed matter, which, according to the Bundestag's rules of procedure, may be dealt with no earlier than three days after its submission (Section 78 (5) GOBT). The CDU/CSU, SPD, The Greens and The Left parliamentary groups then tabled a motion that the deadline be shortened, which is permitted under Section 126 of the Standing Rules and needs a two-thirds majority to pass. The shortening of the deadline was approved unanimously. Friedrich Merz was elected in the second round of voting. He was then appointed Chancellor by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and sworn in to the Bundestag. The federal ministers were then appointed by Federal President Steinmeier and then sworn in by the Bundestag.[11][13][14][17]

Berlin, May 6, 2025 - total votes: 630 - absolute majority: 316 [14]
Ballot Candidate Votes Proportion Parties
1st Ballot Friedrich Merz
(CDU) 		Yes 310 49.2% CDU/CSU
SPD
No 307 48.7%
Abstention 3 0.48%
Invalid 1 0.16%
not submitted 9 1.43%
Friedrich Merz was not elected as Chancellor of Germany.
2nd Ballot Friedrich Merz
(CDU) 		Yes 325 51.6% CDU/CSU
SPD
No 289 45.9%
Abstention 1 0.16%
Invalid 3 0.48%
not submitted 12 1.43%
Friedrich Merz was elected as Chancellor of Germany.

Composition

[edit]
The composition of the cabinet by the number of ministers as per the parties
Party Ministers Percentage
Christian Democratic Union 7 41%
Social Democratic Party 7 41%
Christian Social Union 3 18%
Total 17 100%

In addition to the chancellor, the cabinet consists of 17 ministers, 16 of whom have their own portfolio and one is Minister for Special Affairs (in order to give cabinet rank to the head of the chancellery). The total number of ministers has thus risen by one in comparision to the Scholz cabinet. The Federal Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization has been newly created as a split from the transport ministry and parts of portfolio of the ministry for the interior and of the ministry for economic affairs. Other portfolio reshuffles includes the re-integration of climate action back into the ministry for the environment; it had been merged with economic affairs under outgoing minister Robert Habeck. The responsibility for education is being merged with the portfolio of family, seniors, women and youth affairs, while the remaining ministry for research has been given the added designations of technology and astronautics.

Order[18] Logo[b] Office Portrait Minister Party Taking office
1 Chancellor Friedrich Merz CDU 6 May 2025
2 Vice Chancellor
and Federal Minister of Finance 		Lars Klingbeil SPD 6 May 2025
3 Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt CSU 6 May 2025
4 Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul CDU 6 May 2025
5 Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius SPD 19 January 2023
(renewed on 6 May 2025)
6 Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche CDU 6 May 2025
7 Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär CSU 6 May 2025
8 Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Stefanie Hubig SPD 6 May 2025
9 Federal Minister for Education, Family, Seniors, Woman and Youth Karin Prien CDU 6 May 2025
10 Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Bärbel Bas SPD 6 May 2025
11 Federal Minister for Digitalization and State Modernization Karsten Wildberger Independent
(nominated by CDU) 		6 May 2025
12 Federal Minister for Transport Patrick Schnieder CDU 6 May 2025
13 Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Climate Protection and Nuclear Safety Carsten Schneider SPD 6 May 2025
14 Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken CDU 6 May 2025
15 Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Community Alois Rainer CSU 6 May 2025
16 Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Reem Alabali-Radovan SPD 6 May 2025
17 Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building Verena Hubertz SPD 6 May 2025
18 Federal Minister for Special Affairs

and Head of the Chancellery

Thorsten Frei CDU 6 May 2025

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ 7 Ministers from the CDU and 3 from CSU
  2. ^ As the ministers from 2021 (Scholz cabinet) are currently still in office, the federal ministries still have the old office names and logos. The new logos will only be published when the new federal ministers are appointed.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Mellmann, Anne-Katrin. "Schwarz-rote Koalitionen: Eine Geschichte der Notlösungen". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  2. ^ Emundts, Corinna. "Die Hochrisiko-Koalition: Wie Schwarz-Rot sich nun aufstellen muss". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Eine Groko, die keine mehr ist: Welche Koalitions-Alternativen Merz jetzt hat ("A grand coalition that is no longer one: Which coalition alternatives does Merz have now?")". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). 24 February 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  4. ^ "Germany's Merz unveils coalition deal with Social Democrats after weeks of talks". France 24. 10 April 2025.
  5. ^ "German Federal Election Results". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 28 February 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Sondierungen von Union und SPD sollen heute beginnen" [Exploratory talks between the CDU/CSU and SPD to begin today]. Tagesschau (in German). 28 February 2025. Archived from the original on 27 February 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Knackpunkte, Kabinett - der Weg zur Koalition" [Sticking points, cabinet - the road to coalition]. Tagesschau (in German). 28 February 2025. Archived from the original on 28 February 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Gespräche von Union und SPD starten schneller als erwartet". Tagesschau (in German). 28 February 2025. Archived from the original on 28 February 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  9. ^ "Germany is back, says Merz, after sealing government deal". 9 April 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  10. ^ Rinke, Andreas; Williams, Matthias (9 April 2025). "Germany's Merz unveils coalition deal to spur growth, tackle migration". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 April 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
  11. ^ a b Bundespräsident, Federal President`s Office (6 May 2025). "Ernennung des Bundeskanzlers und des Bundeskabinetts". Der Bundespräsident (in German). Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  12. ^ Knoelle, Kirsti; Chambers, Madeline; Marsh, Sarah; and Heine, Friederike (6 May 2025). Williams, Matthias (ed.). "Germany's Merz fails to be elected chancellor in shock first-round vote". Reuters. Berlin. Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  13. ^ a b Kirby, Paul; Parker, Jessica (6 May 2025). "Germany's Merz wins vote for chancellor after surviving historic defeat". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d Steinhauer, Irina (6 May 2025). "Friedrich Merz mit 325 Stimmen zum Bundeskanzler gewählt". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  15. ^ "Merz scheitert im ersten Wahlgang bei Kanzlerwahl". tagesschau.de (in German). 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  16. ^ Benoit, Bertrand (6 May 2025). "Germany's Merz Becomes Chancellor on Second Try but Emerges Weakened". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  17. ^ "Erfolg im zweiten Wahlgang: Merz zum Bundeskanzler gewählt". tagesschau.de (in German). 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  18. ^ "Liste der Bundesministerinnen und Bundesminister gemäß der amtlichen Reihenfolge" (PDF) (in German). Bundesregierung. 6 May 2025.
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