Merz Coalition Hits Record-Low Approval at One-Year Mark

The Merz coalition turned one at the worst polling readings of its tenure. A Forsa survey for the RTL/n-tv Trendbarometer put Chancellor Friedrich Merz at 13 percent approval and his CDU/CSU–SPD government at 11 percent — the lowest since the coalition formed — with 89 percent of respondents dissatisfied on the economy, on the fight against inflation, and on pensions and health, and 95 percent dissatisfaction among 18- to 29-year-olds, blue-collar workers and the self-employed. Even the coalition's own base disapproves: 82 percent of SPD supporters and 56 percent of CDU/CSU supporters say they are unhappy with the government's work. Only 17 percent rate Merz a better chancellor than Olaf Scholz, and just one in ten believes either the government or chancellor can recover significant trust this year. Chancellery chief Thorsten Frei, asked about the figures on ARD, conceded "we have moved things forward in many areas" but added that economic growth was "neither sustainable nor self-sustaining," and that the coalition's promised quiet cooperation was "not yet where we want to be."

Speaking at the CDU Economic Council's Business Day on Tuesday, Merz ruled out a minority government and pre-empted talk of fresh elections. "A minority government is not an option for me," he said. The coalition, which holds a narrow parliamentary majority, has been strained by repeated policy disputes and public criticism from inside both parties.

BMW's first-quarter results stamped the macro mood with a number. The Munich carmaker reported a 23.1 percent drop in net profit to €1.67 billion ($1.96 billion), citing fierce Chinese competition and the impact of US tariffs. Its core profit margin fell to 7.6 percent from 9.2 percent, while sales volume in China shrank 10 percent. BMW maintained its full-year outlook but warned of higher tariff-related volatility.

Federal police on Wednesday searched some 50 locations across 12 federal states, targeting 36 suspected members of two far-right youth groups, Deutsche Jugend Voran (DJV) and Jung und Stark (JS), the Federal Public Prosecutor said. Investigators are looking at whether the groups constitute a criminal organisation; some suspects are accused of attacks on left-wing individuals and on people they believed to be paedophiles. No arrests were planned at this stage; the searches were aimed at firming up grounds for suspicion.

Rheinmetall offered €12 billion to take over Germany's delayed and over-budget warship construction programme, a step in European defence consolidation that could reshape NATO naval procurement priorities. The interior ministry separately disclosed that up to 14,000 federal police officers are needed to sustain the border controls Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt imposed a year ago; the police union said the deployment is causing significant staffing shortages at train stations and airports, while the Greens argue the policy is illegal and economically damaging, pointing to court rulings against blanket asylum rejections. A 166-page draft of the Building Modernization Act — the successor to the contested Heating Act — proposes allowing gas and oil heating installations beyond 2045 provided they run on at least 60 percent green fuels by 2040; Greens and energy experts say it weakens Germany's 2045 climate-neutral target.