The CDU has formally cleared the way for coalition negotiations with the Greens in Schleswig-Holstein. The executive board of the Christian Democrats voted unanimously on Wednesday to start negotiations between the two parties. A CDU spokesman announced this after the meeting. In the case of the Greens, a state party conference had already approved the talks with a very large majority on Tuesday evening.

According to the current plan, the negotiating delegations of the parties are to meet as early as Wednesday afternoon in a hotel in downtown Kiel. After the end of the soundings on Tuesday, Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) announced the goal of forming a government within the next three weeks.

The leaders of the CDU and the Greens had previously agreed on a joint exploratory paper. On this basis, Günther said after the talks that they would now be able to carry out coalition negotiations together. The three-page paper laid down principles for a governing coalition. Günther named more ambitious climate protection goals and a faster expansion of renewable energies as examples. That was a consensus, emphasized Finance Minister and Greens top candidate Monika Heinold.

At first it was not foreseeable how quickly the CDU and Greens could come to a coalition agreement and whether it could also become difficult on issues such as internal security or agriculture. Günther had said before the last exploratory round that he had nothing against stepping up a gear on some issues. “But the course is right, the direction is right.” The Greens tip was also optimistic. The search for common ground will then show where the difficulties lie, said Heinold in view of the forthcoming coalition negotiations.

In the state elections on May 8, the CDU missed an absolute majority in the state parliament by just one seat. Günther had initially tried to enable the Jamaica coalition of CDU, Greens and FDP, which had been in power since 2017, to continue. However, the Greens and FDP could not agree on this during exploratory talks.

Only one of the two partners is needed to form a government. The CDU then offered the Greens another exploratory talk and then coalition negotiations. Together, the CDU and the Greens would have a two-thirds majority in the state parliament.