After her party suffered heavy losses, compared with their performance in previous elections, German chancellor Angela Merkel has little choice but to push for forming a “Jamaica” ruling coalition. The bloc would consist of her CDU party, the FDP party and the Green party (affiliated with black, yellow and green colors of the Jamaican flag, respectively).
Merkel’s general election opponent Martin Schulz has ruled out a repeat “grand coalition” between his SPD party and the CDU, an outcome that may have been more receptive to Macron’s proposals to deepen integration in the euro area.
Bloomberg Intelligence writes, achieving the Jamaica coalition will in itself be a tall order for Merkel, as the FDP and Greens disagree on key policy positions, and the prolonged negotiations will put any efforts by Macron to push euro area integration on hold.