Merkel on grand coalition, foreign relations

Описание: (14 Nov 2005) SHOTLIST

1. Wide of CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party conference
2. Mid shot of German Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel
3. Cutaway
4. Wide of party conference
5. SOUNDBITE: (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor-designate:
"My dear friends. Today's coalition agreement is not the end but the beginning of an acting government, if it is successfully built. It is the basis of co-operation with a partner that for the past forty years we have been fighting with."
6. Various cutaways
7. SOUNDBITE: (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor-designate:
"For this reason, the coalition talks were one of the most difficult, especially with regards to employment rights, because it is our belief that the flexibility of employment rights is crucial in order to compete internationally."
8. Wide of party conference
9. SOUNDBITE: (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor-designate:
"It (Turkish membership of EU) depends on two things. Firstly on Turkey fulfilling the joining criteria, and secondly on the ability of the existing European Union to integrate. And we doubt that this is the case. We say explicitly that if the EU is unable to welcome Turkey, then there must be a privileged partnership between the two. This is what we have always said. "
10. Cutaway
11. Wide of stage with people clapping

STORYLINE

The leaders of Germany's main parties urged their members on Monday to support an agreement that would see a left-right coalition take power and make Angela Merkel the country's first woman chancellor.

Merkel told the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) faithful in Berlin that the so-called "grand coalition" with outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats was "the basis of co-operation with a partner that for the past forty years we have been fighting with."

She said the talks with Schroeder's Social Democrats were made especially difficult in the area of employment rights, "because it is our belief that the flexibility of employment rights is crucial in order to compete internationally."

Leaders from the Social Democrats, or SPD, and the Christian Democrats and their sister party, the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union, both overwhelmingly approved the 143-page document on Sunday.

Merkel told delegates from the CDU that theirs was the party of change and outlined the new course her government would follow, including an improvement in trans-Atlantic relations.

She also commented on the issue of EU membership for Turkey, reiterating her preference for what she calls a "privileged partnership" rather than full membership.

Both parties were widely expected to pass the coalition agreement.

If they do, parliament will formally elect Merkel on November 22.

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