b'QUO VADIS GERMANIA? NEW COALITION COULD CREATE DRAMATIC CHANGES FOR AGRICULTURE AND SEED SECTOR.BY: MARCEL BRUINSO n 26 September 2021, federal elections werenew centre-left government, consisting of the held in Germany to elect the members of thecentre-left Social Democrats, the pro-business 20th Bundestag. After 16 years at the helmFree Democrats and the environmentalist Greens. Chancellor Angela Merkel chose not to run again.Judging from their 177-page coalition agreement, This kicked off a whirlwind of uncertainty. we can expect a paradox including some continu- The Social Democratic Party of Germanyity and change over the next four years. (SPD) received 25.7 per cent of the total votesAll three coalition partners agree they need which was their best result since 2005. With that,to prepare Germany for the future by investing it emerged as the largest party for the first timein infrastructure, reducing the dependency on since 2002.fossil fuels, and promoting a more inclusive soci- The ruling CDU/CSU, which had been in aety. They want to facilitate structural change by grand coalition with the SPD since 2013, saw itscutting administrative red tape to ensure renew-worst ever result with a mere 24.1 per cent, whichables account for 80 per cent of Germanys gross was a significant decline from 32.9 per cent in 2017.electricity needs by 2030. In contrast, the Alliance 90/The GreensRobert Habeck from the Greens Party, achieved their best result in history with 14.8 pervice-chancellor and minister of economic affairs cent of the votes, while the Free Democratic Partyand climate protection, might seek to increase (FDP) made small gains and arrived at 11.5 per cent.government spending to ensure that real energy Social Democrat Olaf Scholz will lead thetransition takes place. On the other hand, his government as post-World War II Germanys ninthcounterpart Christian Lindner, from the FDP, chancellor. He and his cabinet were elected by thewill serve as vice-chancellor and finance minister Bundestag on 8 December. and is likely to have other ideas. For example, he Both the CDU/CSU and the SPD dismissedmay prefer to lower taxes with a more free-market a fifth grand coalition, meaning the FDP and theapproach. The centre-right Christian Democrats Greens were kingmakers. On 23 November, fol- (CDU/CSU) will go into the opposition. lowing complex coalition talks, the SPD, FDP,This transition marks the end of an era. and Greens formalized the agreement, which wasGermany is the richest country in the Eurozone, subsequently approved by all three parties. Basedas well as the most populous. Over the next few on their party colours, this coalition was quicklypages, European Seedlooked at the changes dubbed the traffic light coalition.we can expect in the field of agriculture, plant This traffic light coalition will make up thebreeding and the seed sector. 6IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'