The coalition is working on a restart

Berlin After the traffic light coalition was largely occupied with crisis management last year, the Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals are now discussing the right course for 2023. At their annual kick-off meetings, the parties formulate their respective priorities. Lines of conflict are already emerging.

All three traffic light partners are under pressure. The SPD and FDP are struggling with weak polls, and there is great concern among the green base that they will have to accept further impositions after the concessions on energy supply. At the beginning of the new year, the question arises as to whether the traffic light can still become the progressive coalition it started as after the acute fight against the crisis.

The SPD leadership met on Sunday for two-day talks in the Willy Brandt House in Berlin. In a six-page paper that the party executive wanted to adopt, the SPD advocates a “comeback of infrastructure policy for the 21st century”.