CDU-SPD Coalition Agrees Reform Roadmap With July 15 Deadline After Six-Hour Crisis Meeting

After weeks of deadlock and public recriminations, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU-SPD coalition held a marathon six-hour meeting and agreed on a comprehensive reform agenda to be pushed through parliament before the summer recess on July 15. The package includes income tax relief targeted at small and medium enterprises and partnerships, a pension system overhaul, healthcare restructuring, and a 'bureaucracy cabinet' session on July 15 to cut red tape by AI-reviewing over 20,000 business proposals. Merz called pension reform 'the toughest nut to crack in the coming months.' The agreement came as polls showed the coalition was widely seen as dysfunctional, with 75% of voters saying it was failing and 58% predicting it would not survive to 2029.