The lack of any effective opposition to the new German government should be a concern for the rest of the Eurozone

Following the CDU/CSU and the SPD reaching a coalition agreement, and the ratification of this agreement by SPD members in December, Germany has finally formed its next government. Steffen Stierle and Christoph Mayer write on what 2014 might hold in store for the rest of the Eurozone now that the new government is in place. They argue that the agreement offers very little cause for optimism among those who support a change of direction in Germany’s European policy. Moreover, the fact that the coalition holds a huge majority of seats will make any effective opposition within the German Parliament extremely difficult.