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ARTICLE · 07 MAY 2025

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The New German Government's Agenda On Compliance

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On May 5, 2025, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) entered into a coalition agreement (Coalition Agreement) with the Social Democratic Party of Germany...

GermanyGovernment, Public Sector
Jan Wendler
Jan Wendler
Martin Seyfarth
Martin Seyfarth
Bastian Baumann, LLM
Bastian Baumann, LLM
Dr. Anton Troßbach
Dr. Anton Troßbach
Philipp Irmscher
Philipp Irmscher
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Introduction

On May 5, 2025, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) entered into a coalition agreement (Coalition Agreement) with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) (together with CDU and CSU the Coalition) with the aim of forming the new German government (the New Government).1 Earlier this year, on February 23, 2025, the CDU and CSU prevailed in the German federal elections and subsequently entered into coalition negotiations with the SPD.

The German Parliament (Bundestag), with the majority of the Coalition, will elect Friedrich Merz of the CDU as the new Chancellor on May 6, 2025. The formation of the New Government will follow immediately. Though coalition agreements are not legally binding, they traditionally function as the political agenda of a new government. The Coalition Agreement can therefore be regarded as the work plan for the next four years of the government led by Friedrich Merz.

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