Post-Merkel government will likely be greener partner in EU – Deutsche Bank
Clean Energy Wire
A post-Merkel coalition government is likely to help drive forward the EU’s climate targets, an analysis by Deutsche Bank has concluded. In a paper, analysts for the bank concluded that a coalition consisting of the Green Party, the conservative CDU and potentially also the liberal FDP would be pro-EU integration and pro-green policies. The bank stated that either coalition is likely to move decarbonisation of the bloc centre-stage and is likely to revise and expand the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). However, it also warned that the next chancellor, who is likely to be the CDU’s Armin Laschet, will need to build up credibility before they can enjoy the same level of EU influence current chancellor Angela Merkel holds.
Current polling puts the conservative CDU/CSU alliance at 26 percent, the Greens at 21 percent and the FDP at 13 percent, making a coalition of the first two or all three the most likely outcome, as current coalition partners CDU and Social Democrats SPD (currently at 17 percent) do not aim to work together again.
The federal election, which will take place on 26 September 2021, will set the scene for a key decade in the energy transition as the EU is aiming to cut emissions by 55 percent over 1990 levels by 2030.
