Germany inches closer to coalition

Germany’s main parties have come one step closer to building a coalition, agreeing on several points including raising the retirement age and a policy on Turkey, but they still must overcome the hurdle of plugging a huge budget shortfall.

Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats, the party of outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, expect to have a formal agreement by the weekend on forming a so-called “grand coalition", Volker Kauder, Christian Democrat secretary-general, said after yesterday’s talks.