Highlights of German coalition agreement

Party leaders German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Horst Seehofer (R) of the Christian Social Union (CSU) and Sigmar Gabriel of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) attend a news conference after signing a preliminary agreement, which has still to be approved by the members of the SPD, in the Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin, November 27, 2013. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) clinched a coalition deal early on Wednesday that puts Germany on track to have a new government in place by Christmas. The agreement was struck roughly two months after Merkel was the clear winner in national elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority, forcing her into talks with the arch-rival SPD, with whom she ruled in an awkward "grand coalition" during her first term as Chancellor from 2005-2009. [Photo/Agencies]

Party leaders German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Horst Seehofer (R) of the Christian Social Union (CSU) and Sigmar Gabriel of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) address a news conference after signing a preliminary agreement, which has still to be approved by the members of the SPD, in the Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin, November 27, 2013. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) clinched a coalition deal early on Wednesday that puts Germany on track to have a new government in place by Christmas. The agreement was struck roughly two months after Merkel was the clear winner in national elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority, forcing her into talks with the arch-rival SPD, with whom she ruled in an awkward "grand coalition" during her first term as Chancellor from 2005-2009. [Photo/Agencies]