On October 28th, the Federal President of Germany, Horst Köhler, appointed re-elected chancellor Angela Merkel and her new government, composed of 15 federal ministers.

An Overview of the New Cabinet

In the new government, the CDU holds eight ministries, the FDP five and the CSU three. Also listed are the state secretaries which are known thus far.

Chancellor: Angela Merkel (CDU)
Head of the chancellery: Ronald Pofalla (CDU)
State secretary for migartion, refugees and integration: Maria Böhmer (CDU)
State secretary for culture and the media: Bernd Neumann (CDU)
State secretary: Eckhart von Klaeden(CDU)

Foreign Office: Guido Westerwelle (FDP)
State secretaries: Werner Hoyer (FDP); Cornelia Pieper (FDP)

Defence: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU)
State secretaries: Thomas Kossendey (CDU); Christian Schmidt (CSU)

Interior: Thomas de Maizière (CDU)
State secretaries: Christoph Bergner (CDU); Ole Schröder (CDU)

Finance: Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU)
State secretaries: Steffen Kampeter (CDU); Hartmut Koschyk (CSU)

Economy: Rainer Brüderle (FDP)
State secretaries: Peter Hintze (CDU); Hans-Joachim Otto (FDP); Ernst Burgbacher (FDP)

Employment: Franz Josef Jung (CDU)
State secretaries: Hans-Joachim Fuchtel (CDU); Ralf Brauksiepe (CDU)

Justice: Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP)
State secretary: Max Stadler (FDP)

Family: Ursula von der Leyen (CDU)
State secretary: Hermann Kues (CDU)

Health: Philipp Rösler (FDP)
State secretaries: Annette Widmann-Mauz (CDU); Daniel Bahr (FDP)

Environment: Norbert Röttgen (CDU)
State secretaries: Ursula Heinen-Esser (CDU); Katherina Reiche (CDU)

Education/Research: Annette Schavan (CDU)
State secretaries: Helge Braun (CDU); Thomas Rachel (CDU)

Traffic: Peter Ramsauer (CSU)
State secretaries: Enak Ferlemann (CDU); Andreas Scheuer (CSU); Jan Mücke (FDP)

Agriculture: Ilse Aigner (CSU)
State secretaries: Julia Klöckner (CDU); Gerd Müller (CSU)

Development: Dirk Niebel (FDP)
State secretary: Gudrun Kopp (FDP)

Essential passages of the coalition agreement

About EU and the neighbour-states (p.114)

The EU is strong as the member states are equal and worthy partners regardless of their size and economic potential. The interests of the small and medium EU member states will remain a trade mark of the German European policies.

The deepening and enlargement of the European Union will lead to a closer political coordination and an intensified exchange between our societies.

We know about the high importance of friendly, trustworthy and future-orientated relations with our neighbours.

About EU-enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy (p.117)

We advocate an enlargement policy according to sound judgement. There should not be a lowering of the criteria or even an automatism of accession e.g. through naming an accession date before the finalisation of the negotiations. The accession talks should be open-ended. The strict fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria is the crucial condition for an accession as well as the ability of the candidates and the capacity of the EU.

We support an expansion of the European Neighbourhood Policy. We aim at a sustainable democratic, economic, social, constitutional and ecological development in our environment. These countries should experience peace and prosperity. On the basis of shared values, we want to ontensify our cooperation with the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

About NATO and Russia (p.119f.)

The NATO will remain our strongest anchor of our common security. It connects Europe and America and is the foundation for the collective defence and displays a unique political and military instrument to keep and restore peace. NATO is a means to accomplish political aims and encompasses the offer to cooperate in the field of security policy, disarmament, trust building and peaceful conflict resolution. Due to this strategic concept, the alliance will adapt to the challanges of today.

We want that the alliance will embrace the strategic partnership with Russia, as stated in the 1997 NATO-Russia-agreement. The NATO-Russia council should be used as a forum for issues concerning collective security policy. Our aim is a euro-transatlantic security architecture which - on the basis of the approved institutions, including OSCE and the European Council - encompasses a close relation to Russia. The German government wants the alliance to keep its door principally open and fosters the expansion of the partnerships.

We regard Russia as an important partner when dealing with regional and global challenges. These challenges include the conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East just as the E3+3 talks about the Iranian nuclear programme, the challenge of international terrorism, climate change or global epidemics. Additionally, we will support Russia to consequently keep up the modernisation of the country and erase existing deficits concerning human rights, the rule of law and democracy. Furthermore, we want to foster the civil dialogue, expand economic relations and create energy security without one-sided dependencies. In our bilateral realtions to Russia, we will respect the eligible intersts of our neighbours.

You can find the whole coalition agreement here