On 26 September, Germany set out to elect a new Parliament and thus also a new federal government. As the election night drew to a close, the SPD emerged as the party with the most votes (25.7%), with a narrow lead over the CDU/CSU (24.1%). The Greens gained third place in the Bundestag (14.8%), followed by the FDP (11.5%), AfD (10.3%) and the Left (4.9%). All in all, this means that complicated negotiations are now in store for autumn.

Even though it is not yet foreseeable how the future federal government will be composed, there is no doubt that the result will have a big impact on digital policy in Germany. One thing is quite apparent: Germany's digitalisation will remain a key challenge for the next federal government. The expansion of telecommunications infrastructure, data protection, e-government, the digitalisation of the economy and the society, and the promotion of new businesses are fields of action in which the coming federal government should take action if it does not want to fall behind in European and international comparison. The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasized this.

eco would like to use the Policy Briefing to look back at the election results, and to identify possible coalition options as well as potential policy priorities based on the election results. Furthermore, we would like to take a closer look at digital policy topics and issues for the upcoming legislative term.