German coalition may mean fulfilment of funding promise for science

After lengthy talks that have been likened to a flight to Mars by one negotiator, Germany’s two largest parties have struck a coalition deal that might finally see Angela Merkel follow through on her promise to raise research spending to 3.5% of GDP. Two months after the inconclusive German elections in September last year, coalition talks between Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens collapsed in November 2017. Climate and energy policy were major sticking points in this attempt at an unlikely and unprecedented coalition.