Berlin, 13 March 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Germany's conservative bloc is set to begin coalition talks with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday, as it seeks to form the next government.

After securing a clear victory in February's parliamentary election, the conservative alliance of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) have agreed on a number of key points in exploratory talks with the SPD.

Now, 16 working groups, each consisting of 16 representatives from the CDU, CSU and SPD, are to conduct negotiations on the details of a joint government programme.

The working groups are scheduled to meet for 10 days, with a steering group taking care of the coordination. Their work is to then be passed to a negotiating group, which is to include the leaders of each party.

An eventual draft coalition agreement would then be put to the three parties for their approval.

The SPD has already declared that it would want to consult its members on a draft deal.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor, has said he aims to have the new government in place by Easter in mid-April.

MIA file photo