By Andreas Rinke, Vera Eckert and Matthias Williams BERLIN (Reuters) -German election winner Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) concluded preliminary talks on forming a coalition government on Saturday,

German election winner Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) have concluded preliminary talks towards forming a coalition government, heads of the parties said on Saturday.

Germany’s conservative bloc and the Social Democrats agreed to deepen talks over forming a new government, a step forward as pressure builds on Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz to implement sweeping reforms.

The co-leader of Germany's Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, said on Wednesday that his party was in talks with election winner Friedrich Merz and his conservatives about agreeing on a timetable for negotiations towards the creation of a government.

Election winner Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU, its Bavarian sister party CSU, and the Social Democrats (SPD) have taken a major step toward forming a coalition government, the heads of the parties said.

According to Friedrich Merz, his conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democratic Party leaders agreed on common principles on migration and the economy. View on euronews