The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party SPD Robert Habeck, Anton Hofreiter and Katrin Goering-Eckardt of Germany's Green Party, and Christian Lindner and Volker Wissing of the Free Democratic Party FDP stand on stage on December 7, 2021 at the Futurium -- the house of futures museum in Berlin, Germany, on December 7, 2021, at the signing of a coalition government agreement. BERLIN, Dec 7 Reuters -- Germany's Social Democrats SPD Greens and Free Democrats FDP signed a coalition deal on Tuesday that sets out how to speed up a green transition and modernise Europe's biggest economy when they take office this week.
The alliance between the unlikely bedfellows, the first such grouping at a national level, brings to an end 16 years of conservative-led government under Angela Merkel, who did not stand for a fifth term in a September election.
The Bundestag lower house of parliament is expected to vote on Wednesday, but the SPD's Olaf Scholz is due to be elected chancellor and take office on Wednesday.
Under the Dare More Progress logo, the three parties signed a 177-sided agreement in front of television cameras.
Scholz said that this should be a morning for a new start.
The last few weeks had been about talking, but now it was time for action, according to Christian Lindner, the FDP leader.
We want to make progress this week. He said that we are under no illusion, we face big challenges.
The agreement was presented last month, but needed members to approve it before signing it.