Social Policies in Germany. Assessment of the “Traffic Light” Coalition and Prospects for the New Government
Notes du Cerfa, No. 188, Ifri, July 2025 — The defeat of the “traffic light” governing coalition in the snap parliamentary elections of February 2025 calls for an initial – necessarily selective – assessment of the social policies implemented during its term.
The reforms undertaken in this area – both their substance and their limitations – reflect the political tensions and internal power dynamics of this heterogeneous alliance. The management of the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine serves as a central starting point. The responses to this crisis deepened fiscal imbalances, hastening the coalition’s collapse in the autumn of 2024. Against this backdrop, several major social reforms deserve particular attention: the increase in the minimum wage, developments in support for the long-term unemployed, and adjustments to the pension and long-term care systems in the context of a rapidly ageing population.
Arnaud Lechevalier is a senior lecturer at Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne University, where he teaches economics and sociology, and a researcher at the LISE Laboratory (Laboratoire interdisciplinaire pour la sociologie économique - UMR CNAM-CNRS). For several years, he was visiting professor at the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder).
- This publication is available in French (PDF): « Les politiques sociales en Allemagne. Bilan de la coalition “feu tricolore” et perspectives du nouveau gouvernement ».
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The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) was created in 1954 by an inter-governmental agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and France, in order to raise awareness of Germany in France and analyze Franco-German relations, including in their European and international dimensions. In its conferences and seminars, which bring together experts, political leaders, senior decision-makers and representatives of civil society from both countries, Cerfa develops the Franco-German debate and stimulates political proposals. It regularly publishes studies through two collections: Cerfa notes and studies as well as Franco-German visions.
Cerfa maintains close relations with the network of German foundations and think tanks. In addition to its research and debate activities, Cerfa promotes the emergence of a new Franco-German generation through original cooperation programs. This is how in 2021-2022, Cerfa led a program on multilateralism with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Paris. This program is aimed at young professionals from both countries interested in the issues of multilateralism in the context of their activities. It covered a wide range of themes relating to multilateralism, such as international trade, health, human rights and migration, non-proliferation and disarmament. Previously, Cerfa had participated in the Franco-German future dialogue, co-led with the DGAP from 2007 to 2020, and supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation and the Daniel Vernet group (formerly the Franco-German Reflection Group) which was founded in 2014 upon the initiative of the Genshagen Foundation.
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