No agreement on energy policy in German coalition negotiations

BERLIN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- German coalition talks between Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party are stalling, said Norbert Roemer, head of the Social Democrat parliamentary group in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Tuesday.

Contrary to Monday's statements by Armin Laschet, member of the Christian Democrats and one of the party's chief negotiators, no agreement is in sight for the coalition negotiations, specifically concerning energy policy and a roadmap on how to reach the Paris Climate Agreement goals in 2020, according to Roemer.

Laschet had told the Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Monday evening that the energy policy chapter of the negotiations had been closed within two sessions.

Roemer criticised this statement, adding that Laschet had broken a pledge made by all participants of the negotiations not to pass on details of the coalition talks while they are lasting.

Andrea Nahles, the head of the Social Democrat parliamentary group in the Federal Parliament, the Bundestag, described the leaks as "irritating" in a statement on Tuesday.

The Social Democrats have most of their members in Roemer's state of North Rhine-Westphalia with just under 111,000. They are also historically linked to the mining industry which is expected to be heavily affected by future energy policies.

Among other topics still to be discussed in the negotiations are reunifications of refugees with their families and a tax reform specifically concerning top income households. Enditem