Close vote before swear-in appears to underline scale of task at domestic and abroad for new governmentAngela Merkel has returned to the German parliament’s governing benches to get to work on an in-tray overflowing with domestic and geopolitical problems after six months of fraught coalition building following September’s federal elections.
Having brought to an close the longest power hiatus in Germany’s postwar history,Merkel has to work with a diminished majority in her fourth term as chancellor to find solutions to instant challenges, such as the threats from import tariffs from an unpredictable US president and calls for structural reforms to the eurozone’s financial system from France’s president, or Emanuel Macron.
A look at the main priorities set out in in the German coalition agreement,which will guide policy-making for the next four years. Related: German elections 2017: full results Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com