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German coalition parties see deal within next week
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 17 - 10 - 2009


Leading members of German
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the pro-business
Free Democrats said on Saturday that a deal on forming a
centre-right coalition government was likely next week.
Thorny issues, including the scale of tax cuts and how to
finance them, remain but the parties have agreed other matters,
ranging from financial market regulation to policy on Turkey's
bid for European Union membership and online monitoring, Reuters reported.
Germany's conservative bloc, comprising Merkel's Christian
Democrats (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU),
are trying to forge a policy agenda for the next four years with
the Free Democrats (FDP) after together they won enough votes in
a Sept. 27 election to rule in a coalition.
CSU General Secretary Alexander Dobrindt said after six
hours of talks on Saturday that consensus between the parties
was growing. "From our point of view, we can say everything can
be resolved in the next week," he told reporters.
Party leaders, including Merkel, will continue negotiations
on Sunday on the most difficult issues. A final deal, which will
include the sensitive division of cabinet posts, is expected
towards the end of next week.
Tax is one of the main sticking points. Both parties want
tax cuts but they are at odds on the amount. Talks in the last
24 hours have focused on cuts of about 20 billion euros ($30
billion) but it is unclear how they will be financed while
Europe's biggest economy is running a bulging budget deficit.
Leading CDU politician Juergen Ruettgers said there would
have to be talks about how to rein in spending. "There will not
only be talks about good deeds, there will also have to be talks
on how to finance them," said Ruettgers.
In addition to the 20 billion euros of possible tax cuts,
there is a 30 billion euro hole in the budget to plug.
A working group drawing up policy on economic matters said
the parties had agreed to cut the costs of bureaucracy which
would especially help small and medium-sized businesses.
The parties are also wrangling over Germany's health fund
which needs a 7.5 billion euro cash injection. The new coalition
will keep the fund, which the FDP had wanted to abolish, but
make big changes to it, said leading CDU member Ursula von der
Leyen.
The parties have also broadly agreed they want to extend the
working lives of some nuclear power plants, but details are
unclear.


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