The era of Angela Merkel has come to an end. In all probability, Germany will have a new government before Christmas. And one of the key negotiators at the current coalition table is Otto Fricke. He has been a member of the Bundestag for the better part of two decades, serving as the FDP’s finance wizard. Not only has he been the chair of the Bundestag’s important budget committee for many years, he has also assumed the role of parliamentary leader for the liberal party. At this point, he is one of the party’s most trusted leaders.

In the recent federal election, the FDP has emerged as the “kingmaker”: without the FDP, there will be no new government. In our conversation with Fricke, we will discuss the potential of the traffic light coalition between the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Liberals, and focus on the FDP’s role as the indispensable junior partner. Will the three parties be able to put their heads together and lead Europe’s biggest country into a post-Merkel era of innovation, sustainability and prosperity? Or will they get caught up in four years of stalemate, because their differences are simply too large?

The Greens want to fight climate change by raising taxes and spending huge amounts of money, whereas the FDP insists they will not increase public spending and actually want to lower taxes. They prefer to let the magic of the market and advances in technology solve climate change.
Other topics we will discuss are: why is the FDP so popular with young voters? What can the German liberals learn from the Dutch and vice versa? Will we come to miss Merkel?