Hans Michelbach, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc, said an agreement had been reached with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) to abolish the "solidarity tax" by 2021. The FDP had made abolishing the tax, which was due to expire in 2019, an election promise. However, the would-be coalition partners appeared to have reached an impasse over immigration policy as a self-imposed Sunday evening deadline for agreeing the outlines of a government programme passed with no deal. "Everyone has to take a success back home," said Julia Kloeckner, deputy chair of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), highlighting the difficulty of compromise. While the FDP continues to demand tax cuts, the trickiest sticking point concerns immigration, where the CSU insists on capping new arrivals at 200,000 a year.

Source: The Star November 19, 2017 22:52 UTC