Analysis-German coalition unruliness threatens Merz's reform agenda

Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz, Deputy Secretary General of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Christina Stumpp, German Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Karin Prien, Saxony state premier Michael Kretschmer, and Parliamentary State Secretary, Silvia Breher, attend a leadership meeting after the press conference at the CDU headquarters in Berlin, Germany October 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is struggling to push through two key policy proposals on pensions and military service, in a setback fuelling concerns that some of the political instability seen in France could soon echo in Europe's largest economy.

Merz's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats had promised to provide more stability when they formed their "marriage of convenience" five months ago after the collapse of a fractious three-way coalition.