List of participants in the Merz cabinet coalition negotiations

The list of participants in the coalition negotiations between CDU/CSU and SPD in 2025 lists the people who participated in the coalition negotiations between the parties after the 2025 German federal election.

Negotiations to form a coalition began on 13 March 2025, and were successfully concluded on 9 April 2025.

The outcome of the coalition negotiations led to the formation of the Merz cabinet.

Round of party executives

CDU/CSU

• Friedrich Merz, CDU Federal Chairman
• Markus Söder, CSU chairman and Minister-President of Bavaria
• Thorsten Frei, First Parliamentary Secretary of the
• Alexander Dobrindt, Chairman of the CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag

SPD

• Lars Klingbeil, SPD Chairman
• Saskia Esken, SPD Chairwoman
• Matthias Miersch, acting SPD General Secretary

Negotiating group

CDU/CSU

• Friedrich Merz, CDU Federal Chairman
• Karin Prien, Deputy Federal Chairwoman of the CDU
• Carsten Linnemann, CDU General Secretary
• Michael Kretschmer, Deputy Federal Chairman of the CDU
• Jens Spahn, Deputy Federal Chairman of the CDU
• Martin Huber, CSU General Secretary
• Markus Söder, CSU chairman and Minister-President of Bavaria
• Thorsten Frei, First Parliamentary Secretary of the
• Dorothee Bär, Deputy Chairwoman of the CSU
• Alexander Dobrindt, Chair of the in the Bundestag

SPD

• Lars Klingbeil, SPD Chairman
• Saskia Esken, SPD Chairwoman
• Manuela Schwesig, Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• Achim Post, Deputy Federal Chairman of the SPD
• Matthias Miersch, acting SPD General Secretary
• Bärbel Bas, former President of the Bundestag
• Hubertus Heil, Deputy Federal Chairman of the SPD
• Boris Pistorius, Federal Minister of Defence
• Anke Rehlinger, Deputy Chairwoman of the SPD

Steering Group

CDU/CSU

• Carsten Linnemann, CDU General Secretary
• Martin Huber, CSU General Secretary
• Thorsten Frei, First Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag
• Alexander Dobrindt, Chairman of the CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag

SPD

• Matthias Miersch, acting SPD General Secretary
• Carsten Schneider

Working groups

Sixteen working groups will be formed, each with 16 participants. The respective offices refer to the time of the negotiations, whereby for federal politicians, previous offices refer to the outgoing 20th legislative period and subsequent offices denote immediately following positions in the 21st legislative period. The designations MdB, MdL, MdA, MdHB, MdBB and MdEP indicate membership in the respective parliaments

Interior, Law, Migration and Integration

Economy, industry, tourism

Digital

Transport and infrastructure, construction and housing

Work and Social Affairs

Health and Care

Family, women, youth, senior citizens and democracy

Education, research and innovation

Bureaucracy reduction, state modernization, modern justice

Municipalities, sports and volunteering

Rural areas, agriculture, food, environment

Foreign Affairs and Defence, Development Cooperation and Human Rights

Europe

Culture and Media

Climate and energy

Budget, Finances and Taxes

External links

• Verhandlungsergebnisse der Arbeitsgruppen veröffentlicht von fragdenstaat.de

References

See also

• List of participants in the Scholz cabinet coalition negotiations