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German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Opposition Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to hold a third round of talks on Thursday as the two parties moved closer to form a new coalition government.
The CDU, its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the SPD had "very intensive" discussions on a wide range of policy issues at the second round of their talks in Berlin yesterday, CDU general secretary Hermann Groehe said.
The discussions, which lasted late into the night, helped them to gain more clarity about their differences and convergence of views in many areas, he told journalists after the eight-hour meeting.
Groehe said whether his party will take up negotiations with the SPD to form a "grand coalition" will be decided after it holds the second round of talks with the Green party today.
The CDU and the CSU are taking their discussions with the ecological party as seriously as with the SPD, he said.
SPD general secretary Andrea Nahles also said the second round of talks with the CDU were very constructive and they provided more clarity about the positions of both sides.
She said she expected latest by the end of this week a decision by the CDU on taking up formal coalition negotiations.
The SPD had convened a special party congress for next Sunday to vote on the party's participation in coalition negotiations.
