In North Rhine-Westphalia, the way is clear for coalition negotiations between the CDU and the Greens. The top bodies of both parties voted in favor on Sunday. In Düsseldorf, the extended state board of the NRW-CDU unanimously said yes to the official start of coalition talks. This was announced by CDU state party leader and Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst. The party council of the North Rhine-Westphalia Greens had also said unanimously in Essen shortly before – with seven abstentions.

Black and green is therefore even more the most likely option for the next government in North Rhine-Westphalia. It would be the first coalition of this kind for the most populous federal state. Coalition negotiations are to begin on Tuesday, as Wüst announced. The basis for the decision was a twelve-page exploratory paper in which the two parties had summarized common goals in the past few days.

In it, the CDU and the Greens commit to a climate-neutral industrialized country. The parties want to set up an “immediate climate protection program” and are sticking to the intended early phase-out of coal by 2030. At least 1,000 additional wind turbines are planned over the next five years.

In the education sector, 10,000 additional teachers are to be hired in the coming years. The CDU and the Greens are also campaigning for equal pay. In addition, more police officers should be hired.

Both parties emerged from the state elections on May 15 with gains. The CDU is the clear winner with 35.7 percent. The SPD, on the other hand, slipped to its worst result in a state election in North Rhine-Westphalia with 26.7 percent. The Greens were able to almost triple their share of the vote compared to 2017 to 18.2 percent and ended up in third place.

In purely mathematical terms, a traffic light coalition led by the SPD, the Greens and the FDP would also be possible. However, this option would only come into play if the CDU and Greens could not agree on a coalition.