At the three-day conference of the Christian Democrats the stakes are many: the new face of centrist conservatism, the European elections but also a path to the chancellery.

Their return to power and the chancellorship after Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure, the renewal of the party’s profile and trust in Friedrich Merz, but also more directly the final path to the European elections in June are charted from today until Wednesday in Berlin by Christian Democrats at their three-day conference.

“The Christian Democrats are coming back. They have a plan for the future. A plan for the big challenges,” CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who is both seeking re-election to the party leadership and paving the way for the chancellorship in the 2025 federal election, said in his opening speech.

“The Demons of Friedrich Merz”

According to a multi-page feature in the magazine Der Spiegel over the weekend entitled “The Demons of Friedrich Merz. The head of the CDU and his worst enemy: himself”, Mertz fights many battles at once.

Known within the party for his volatile nature, the Christian Democrat president has smartly chosen to tone down the personal level at least in public, having long avoided miscommunications and mishaps as he aims to be anointed for the chancellorship. As the magazine reveals, his trusted friend Wolfgang Schäuble had told him, shortly before his death, that his goal should be to bring leadership back to the party, but without worrying about whether he would necessarily become the next leader himself. chancellor.

In the context of the conference, however, his re-election to the position of leader is considered certain. In any case, the political situation is favorable for the Christian Democrats, with opinion polls consistently placing them in first place. According to the latest poll ahead of the European elections, the Christian Democrats are moving to 30%, almost 15 points above the Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Solz.

Center party to the right

In the meantime, on Tuesday, the debate on the revision of the party’s constitution with the aim of approving new basic guidelines is expected with interest. According to what is known so far, the goal is for the CDU to maintain the character of a centrist party, but which will be based on fundamental conservative values ​​with careful doses of modernization, as observed by the French news agency AFP.

In an interview with the public network ARD in the prelude to the conference, Friedrich Merz nevertheless wanted to underline that: “We are not moving away from the center”, however the goal is to formulate a political proposal that will concern all voters in Germany.

The head of the sister party of the Bavarian Christian Socialists, Markus Zender, also speaks of a “conservative center” in his statements, who will also speak at the conference, stressing that this “clear new position” of the party broadens its political spectrum. At the same time, he provides support for Mertz to continue as the leader of the Christian Democrats, stating that Mertz has succeeded in uniting the party.

On Wednesday, the coordination of the pre-election agenda and the candidates of the Christian Democrats is expected to be in focus, while Ursula von der Leyen, who is running for a second term as head of the Commission, is also expected to speak at the conference.