Germany's conservative and center-left parties will present their deal to form a new government

Conservative and center-left parties will present a deal to form a new German government on Wednesday after weeks of negotiations

Conservative and center-left parties will present a deal to form a new German government on Wednesday after weeks of negotiations. The agreement paves the way for new leadership in Europe’s biggest economy after months of political drift.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, is expected to become Germany’s next leader under the agreement, replacing outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The parties involved sent an invitation to a news conference at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT)

Merz’s two-party Union bloc emerged as the strongest force from Germany’s election on Feb. 23. Merz turned to the Social Democrats, Scholz’s center-left party, to put together a coalition with a parliamentary majority.

It’s still going to be a little while before parliament can elect Merz as chancellor, perhaps in early May. Before that can happen, the coalition deal will need approval in a ballot of the Social Democrats’ membership and by a convention of Merz’s CDU.

Details of the agreement weren’t immediately available.

But last month the two sides pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict debt rules and to set up a huge infrastructure fund that’s aimed at boosting the stagnant economy.