Coalitions & government
Who can realistically govern together?
Germany's arithmetic is only half the story. Parties also have formal red lines, historical partnerships and major policy conflicts. This matrix describes political compatibility—not constitutional eligibility and not a prediction.
| Party family | Union | SPD | Greens | AfD | Linke | FDP | BSW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union | — | Current govt | Possible | Blocked | Formal CDU red line | Historically compatible | State precedent |
| SPD | Current govt | — | Frequent partner | Blocked | Conditional | Past federal partner | State precedent |
| Greens | Possible | Frequent partner | — | Blocked | State precedent | Possible, difficult | Difficult |
| AfD | Blocked | Blocked | Blocked | — | No current route | No current route | Unclear / issue overlap |
| Linke | CDU red line | Conditional | Possible | No current route | — | Large policy gap | Shared roots, now rivals |
| FDP | Outside Bundestag | Outside Bundestag | Outside Bundestag | Outside Bundestag | Outside Bundestag | — | Outside Bundestag |
| BSW | State precedent | State precedent | Difficult | Unclear | Rival left blocs | Outside Bundestag | — |
Who actually governs?
Manifestos show preferences; governing requires coalition compromise. The current federal coalition agreement therefore matters at least as much as the 2025 election programmes.
Bundestag parliamentary groups
630 seats observed on 2026-09-08. Parliamentary group membership can change after an election.
Source effective date not supplied. Checked .
Publication date: not supplied. [2]
Current Bundestag composition: CDU/CSU 208 seats, AfD 150 seats, SPD 120 seats, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen 85 seats, Die Linke 64 seats, Non-attached 3 seats
- CDU/CSU208 seats
- AfD150 seats
- SPD120 seats
- Bündnis 90/Die Grünen85 seats
- Die Linke64 seats
- Non-attached3 seats
Parliamentary group membership can change after an election. CDU and CSU are counted together once as the Union group.
| Group | Seats |
|---|---|
| CDU/CSU | 208 |
| AfD | 150 |
| SPD | 120 |
| Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | 85 |
| Die Linke | 64 |
| Non-attached | 3 |
The AfD won 152 seats in the final election allocation; the observed AfD group has 150 members. These describe different dates and categories.
CDU / CSU / SPD
Friedrich Merz (CDU) is Chancellor. The government consists of the Chancellor and 17 federal ministers.[3]
Coalition priorities are described by the government as economic strength, stable finances, security, social cohesion and responsible foreign policy.[4]
AfD · Greens · Die Linke
These are the three opposition parliamentary groups. Current group sizes: AfD 150, Greens 85, Linke 64.[2]
The AfD is the largest opposition group; Greens and Linke often oppose the government from very different policy directions.
FDP · BSW
Both failed the 5% threshold in 2025. BSW missed it exceptionally narrowly at 4.981%; FDP received 4.3%.[1]
They can still hold European, Land and municipal mandates and influence coalition politics outside the Bundestag.
SPD, Greens and FDP governed federally under Olaf Scholz until the coalition collapsed in late 2024, triggering the early 2025 election.
Union first (28.5% combined), AfD second (20.8%), SPD third (16.4%); FDP and BSW outside parliament.[1]
CDU/CSU and SPD formed the new federal government after signing the “Verantwortung für Deutschland” coalition agreement.[44]
AfD rose to first place in the September ARD poll; Greens and Linke also poll above their 2025 election results, while the governing Union and SPD poll below theirs.[5]