What to Look for in the 2021 Federal Election in Germany

By the end of 2022, Angela Merkel, once called the leader of the free world, will have ended her chancellorship in Germany. Angela Merkel leaves a gap, and the Bundestag elections on 26 September will be decisive in determining who will succeed her in office.

Who will lead the world’s fourth largest economy in the future? Which party will the new chancellor belong to? What ideas for reshaping the EU will he or she bring with them? Will Germany succeed in relaunching the energy transition and making Germany attractive for business at the same time?

A few days before the election, many of these questions cannot be answered. But also days and perhaps even weeks after the election, we may still not know who will lead Germany into the future and above all, in what direction.

The German team of APCO Worldwide has therefore put together a presentation that provides background information on the upcoming election in Germany. We look at candidates and possible coalitions, the electoral system, Germany’s role in the world and different policy areas. And we give an outlook on what will happen in the weeks and months after the election until the new chancellor is elected and a new government is appointed.