After the Dutch and French elections earlier this year, the German parliamentary elections on Sunday, the 24th of September, are the last major test for European governments in their struggle to keep voters on board with the European project. While Merkel’s party seems to be on track to win the elections - with a comfortable lead over their nearest competitor and current coalition partner, the SPD - the Euro- and refugee crises have also not been without consequence for German politics.
The parties to watch for during these elections are the ones competing for third place: the Greens, the Socialists (Die Linke), the Liberals (FDP) and the newest addition to the German party landscape, the Eurosceptic AfD, are all polling at 7-10% at the moment. Although all major parties are opposing any form of collaboration with the AfD, the latter’s performance will fundamentally affect the possibilities of ruling coalitions. The AfD has been making major gains in regional elections over the past two years, culminating in their shock victory over Merkel’s CDU in last year’s regional elections in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania - the state in which Merkel’s own constituency is located. However, the FDP (Liberals), often referred to as a ‘natural’ coalition partner for Merkel, are making a strong comeback: after their resounding election defeat in 2013 that saw the party drop out of the parliament for the first time ever, the FDP may prove a key ally for the CDU in upcoming coalition talks.
As Macron extends its hand to Germany to advance the European integration project, the result of the elections and the coalitions forming in its aftermath will prove decisive for the future of the European project. But how compatible, or divergent, are the EU positions of the parties most likely to constitute the German parliament after September?
The EU manifestos of each of the six parties can be explored in the mattermap below.
The Dutch version of the mattermap can be found here.
