A black–green or green–black coalition (black–green or green–black for short) is a coalition between a conservative and/or Christian Democratic party (party colour black) and a green party (party colour green).
In Germany, a black–green coalition (German: schwarz-grüne Koalition) refers to a government with the participation of one or both of the Union parties: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), and the Alliance 90/The Greens.
Under green leadership, this is also called a kiwi coalition and in Austria it is known as a turquoise–green coalition, referring to the colour of the Austrian People's Party.
Background
The relationship between the CDU/CSU and the Greens in the 1980s Among the founders of the Green Party there were many conservative environmentalists, the most famous of whom was the former CDU member of the Bundestag . However, in 1980, the year the party was founded, left-wing forces prevailed within the Greens and most of their right wing supporters departed from the party all together.
After the Greens entered the Bundestag in the 1983 West German federal election, there were discussions within the Union about banning the new party or at least having it monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a potential opponent of the free and democratic basic order. According to Deutsche Welle, since the 1980s the Greens have become increasingly more conservative.
In 1984, the Green member of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg, , was the first prominent politician to speak publicly about being able to imagine a black–green alliance in principle. In the same state, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg Lothar Späth was Germany's first leading CDU politician to express sympathy for the Greens in 1988, when he said that the Greens "are the most interesting for me".
The "Pizza Connection" In view of the great gap that separated conservative and green politicians in the 1980s in terms of content, rhetoric and habits, it seemed almost provocative that in the mid-1990s young up-and-coming politicians from the CDU and the Greens met for regular informal discussions in a Bonn pizzeria. The so-called "" included Cem Özdemir, Volker Beck and Matthias Berninger on the Green side, and Norbert Röttgen, Peter Altmaier, Kristina Schröder, Ronald Pofalla, Hermann Gröhe, Eckart von Klaeden, Friedbert Pflüger and on the CDU side.
Municipal alliances since the mid-1990s Black–Green coalitions in German cities2001–2003Saarbrücken2003–2009Kiel2003–2004Cologne2003–2005Kassel2004–2009, 2020–presentEssen2004–2009Duisburg2006–2016Frankfurt am Main2006Oldenburg2009–2013Aachen2009–2014Bonn2016–2020Cologne2011–presentDarmstadt2015–presentTrier2018–presentWuppertal (without its own majority)2020–presentAugsburg1994–1999, 2021–presentMülheim an der Ruhr2021–presentDüsseldorf Black–green coalitions have existed at the local level since the mid-1990s. The first came about in post-industrial areas of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) had long been the dominant political party. In 1994, Mülheim an der Ruhr became the first major city in the state to be governed by an alliance of the CDU and the Greens, which lasted until 1999. At some times, there were more black–green than red–green coalitions at the local level in North Rhine-Westphalia.
At the district level, the longest-standing black–green cooperation can be seen in the Hessian district of Marburg-Biedenkopf. This began in 2001 (with the participation of the FDP and the Free Citizens) and was renewed in 2006 and 2011 (since 2011 without FDP participation).
The largest city with a black–green coalition is currently Cologne. Saarbrücken was the first state capital with a black–green coalition (2001 to 2003). There was also a black–green coalition in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital Kiel from 2003 to 2009. In Oldenburg, a black–green coalition collapsed after just seven weeks of the after the CDU in the council voted in favour of building a shopping centre next to Oldenburg Castle, contrary to the coalition agreement. Previously, the CDU candidate for mayor, Gerd Schwandner (independent), had been elected in the second round of voting with the support of the Greens.
In Freiburg im Breisgau, the Greens and together formed the largest faction in the local council and, until June 2018, the mayor, Dieter Salomon. Cooperation with the CDU faction was often problem-free. The best-known joint project nationwide is probably the failed sale of the municipal housing company Stadtbau GmbH. This was clearly rejected by 70 percent of the votes cast in Freiburg's first successful referendum.
Jamaica coalitions between the CDU, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) are also more common at the local level.
Black–Green at the state level
Background Already in the run-up to the 1992 Baden-Württemberg state election, the then-Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg Erwin Teufel had declared that he also wanted to negotiate a coalition with the , but then allowed the exploratory talks with the party fall through.
In the run-up to the 2004 Thuringian state election, there was speculation about a coalition between the CDU and Alliance 90/The Greens. According to a survey, 69 percent of Greens and 48 percent of CDU voters in this state said they would have welcomed such a coalition. Even before the 2004 Saxony state election, a black–green coalition was not ruled out from the outset.
Before the 2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election, the leading candidates Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) and Bärbel Höhn (Greens) appeared at several photo opportunities. Together they declared: "Black–Green is in the air". However, despite a narrow majority that was looming, Rüttgers opted for an adversarial election campaign and a coalition with the FDP ().
Before the 2006 state elections, Baden-Württemberg's Minister-President Günther Oettinger (CDU) did not rule out a black–green coalition for his state, whose are considered to be rather conservative. Although the CDUwas able to continue the coalition with the after the state elections with a large majority, serious talks were started with the Greens, who had become the third strongest force. A few days later, however, the CDU decided to continue the black–yellow coalition. The Green parliamentary group leader in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament, Winfried Kretschmann, aimed for a black–green alliance for the period after the 2011 state elections. However, the election campaign became polarized in the wake of the increasing since 2010 and the decision by the black–yellow federal government to of German nuclear power plants. In the 2011 state elections, a green–red majority emerged, which elected Winfried Kretschmann as the first Green Minister-President.
In the state of Bremen, Senator for Construction (CDU) suggested a black–green coalition for the period after the state elections in 2007.
The first black–green state government in Hamburg (2008–2010) Since the CDU won an absolute majority in the Hamburg Parliament after the 2004 Hamburg state election, the formation of a coalition was unnecessary. However, the CDU and GAL formed black–green coalitions at district level. The former Green Hamburg Senator Krista Sager announced in September 2007 that black–green was a very realistic option after the Hamburg state election in February 2008. At their state party conference in October 2007, the Hamburg Greens kept the black–green option open and at the same time ruled out any cooperation with Die Linke. Mayor Ole von Beust also preferred this coalition to a coalition with the SPD in the 2008 election campaign, in case the CDU's absolute majority was not confirmed in the election. In the 2008 Hamburg state election on 24 February 2008, the CDU and Alliance 90/The Greens Hamburg received an absolute majority overall, so that the formation of a black–green coalition was mathematically possible. In the meantime, both parties decided to start coalition negotiations. On 16 April 2008, the CDU and GAL parliamentary group leaders announced in Hamburg that they had reached a coalition agreement in principle. On 27 April 2008, the GAL Hamburg base approved the coalition agreement. With the approval of the CDU state party conference on 28 April, the first black–green coalition in Hamburg was agreed by both parties. The black–green was in office from 7 May 2008, before being replaced by the after Beust's resignation on 25 August 2010.
On 28 November 2010, the Greens announced that they would leave the coalition. This meant that the first black–green alliance at the state level had collapsed. In the subsequent new election in 2011, the CDU lost almost half of its 2008 vote share, with a loss of 20.7 percentage points, while the Greens were able to gain slightly. The SPD gained an absolute majority.
Hesse
Black–Green Coalition in the State Welfare Association of Hesse As early as 2005, there was a black–green collaboration in the , the "Hessian Social Parliament" with the participation of the FDP (Jamaica Alliance). With the Greens' strengthening after the , the FDP left the alliance and after the conclusion of a black–green coalition agreement the then Green state parliament member, , was elected full-time First Deputy.
Coalition in Hesse (2014–2024) The 2013 Hessian state election took place on the same day as the 2013 federal election. Volker Bouffier (CDU), Minister-President of Hesse since September 2010, was the CDU's top candidate. The received 38.3% (+1.1 percentage points); the 30.7 (+7.0 percentage points), the 5.0 (−11.2 percentage points), the 11.2 (−2.2 percentage points), 5.2%.
The black–yellow coalition that had existed until then no longer had a majority of seats in the Landtag of Hesse. In the exploratory talks after the state election, the possibilities for a grand coalition or a red–red–green coalition were also explored. After four exploratory talks between the negotiators Bouffier and Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens), on 22 November 2013, the CDU offered the Greens the opportunity to start the first black–green coalition negotiations in a German federal state. It did this despite the fact that the SPD had signaled its willingness to form a grand coalition (which was emerging at the federal level at the same time).
The Green accepted this offer with a majority of 51:6 votes. In the night of 16 to 17 December 2013, the CDU and the Greens agreed on a coalition agreement entitled " Design reliably – open up perspectives" . After the CDU state committee unanimously approved the coalition agreement on 21 December 2013, the Green Party members voted in favour of the coalition agreement at a state party conference on the same day with 74.24 percent.
On 18 January 2014, Volker Bouffier was re-elected as Minister-President in the constituent session of the Landtag of Hesse with 62 votes, thus receiving one vote more than the CDU and the Greens combined. The second Bouffier cabinet was then appointed and sworn in.
Thanks to the Greens' gain in votes, the black–green state government achieved a one-vote majority in the 2018 Hessian state election, despite the CDU's loss of votes. This was the first time that a black–green coalition above the local level had lasted for an entire legislative period and was even confirmed.