North Rhine-Westphalia: CDU and Greens: First round of coalition negotiations

Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - CDU and Greens want to start the first round of their coalition negotiations in North Rhine-Westphalia on Tuesday evening.

North Rhine-Westphalia: CDU and Greens: First round of coalition negotiations

Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - CDU and Greens want to start the first round of their coalition negotiations in North Rhine-Westphalia on Tuesday evening. Specialist working groups should begin this week to come to a common denominator as concretely as possible on the most important topics, according to circles from both parties. If that succeeds, the first black-green alliance in North Rhine-Westphalia would be forged.

A day after the leading bodies of both parties had given the green light to start official negotiations, numerous interest groups addressed demands to the CDU and the Greens on Monday. Associations for environmental protection and renewable energies called for an "end to the wind energy blockade", as did the association of municipal companies. The tenants' association insisted on more affordable housing.

The alliance "A school for all" calls for "the gradual conversion from a selective to an inclusive school system in which all children can learn with and from each other for a long time". The Association of Teachers NRW wants "that the Christian Democrats in particular do not treat education policy as neglected as was the case in the voted-out black-yellow coalition".

The top committees of the CDU and the Greens had approved coalition negotiations on the basis of a twelve-page exploratory paper that 22 state politicians from both sides had put together last week. In it, the CDU and the Greens pledge to transform North Rhine-Westphalia into a climate-friendly industrial state and to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2030. Among other things, both parties want to increase the number of jobs and the budgets for schools and the police.