Germany's Social Democrats, Greens and FDP aim to form new government

On Friday, the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats announced that they are to recommend formal negotiations in a bid to make a new government. 

The party heads have forged a preliminary agreement to build the country's next government, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Friday after a series of three-way discussions.

"We have agreed on a text from the exploratory talks," said Scholz of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, adding that this "is a very good result that clearly shows that a government that aims to ensure we achieve progress can be formed in Germany."

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The parties have met three times for exploratory talks since the Bundestag elections on September 26th. In contrast to the non-binding exploratory talks, the parties involved now have their sights firmly set on a joint government.

They are aiming to form a 'traffic light' coalition - named after the party colours of red, green and yellow. 

However, the coalition negotiations have not yet been confirmed. The Greens are to hold a small party conference on Sunday which will see them decide whether to start the formal talks, while the FDP is to consult party committees.

This step is not required by the SPD where a green light from the party executive is all that's needed to move to the next step. 

Scholz explained that the partners had agreed on stricter climate protection as the most important goal. "This will probably be the biggest industrial modernisation project of the past 100 years," Scholz said.

Green Party co-leader Annalena Baerbock said differences had been openly discussed in order to find common ground. The traffic light could become a "reform and progress coalition".