Neither Merkel nor Scholz: Who is Friedrich Merz and what happens next

Who is Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz? The leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party will soon become much better known across Europe – given his party's win at the weekend's election make him likely become the country's 37th chancellor.

Born in 1955 in the west German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Friedrich Merz began his political career with the CDU in 1989 following law school. 

Two decades later, after years of disagreement with his party leader and chancellor Angela Merkel, he went to work as a corporate lawyer with many large multinational corporations in sectors such as finance, insurance, transport and even football.

When Merkel announced her decision to leave politics in 2018, Merz returned to the CDU, becoming chairman of the party four years later, promising a decisive break with the centrist line Merkel had followed for 16 years.

With support growing across Europe for more conservative politics, Merz had finally found his place and in 2024 he was elected as the CDU's Chancellor candidate.

Merz has described himself as socially conservative and economically liberal. His supporters call him decisive, but it's his perceived inability to compromise that his critics oppose.

With its Bavarian sister party CSU, Merz's CDU party won 28.6 percent of the votes in recent federal elections – effectively ending the three-year chancellory of Olaf Scholz, whose center-left SPD party suffered a horrendous election reverse.

In his victory speech, Merz stressed the need for greater European independence from the U.S. – particularly in the area of defense, with conflict raging on the EU's doorstep.

"In response to statements made in Washington last week, it is clear that we Europeans must now be able to act very quickly and that we must also organize our own defence capability very quickly," he said. "This is an issue that has absolute priority in the coming weeks."

He also plans to boost Germany's immediate support of Ukraine, advocating for more heavy weapons delivery to the frontlines, including the controversial Taurus missiles, which can reach Russian targets and thereby, inadvertently, pull Germany into the conflict.

Migration and money

His next priority is migration. Merz has proposed stricter border controls, speeding up deportations of rejected asylum applicants and reducing welfare benefits to migrants.

However, one of his hardest challenges he faces as chancellor will be reviving Germany's ailing economy, which has witnessed two consecutive years of recessions and is on track for a third.

He believes that lowering taxes, supporting industry, deregulation, reducing bureaucracy and government handouts will help kickstart Germany's road to recovery.

Yet his opposition to debt could hinder his fiscal plans and put him at odds with potential coalition partners, who argue for more financial flexibility to fund key public investments.

Merz often speaks about Germany being too complacent and slow to adapt to global changes, vowing to "turn the country from the sleeping giant of Europe into its leading power again."

He hopes to have a working coalition government confirmed by Easter. It's a process that has previously taken half a year, but the likely chancellor-in-waiting knows he has to act fast if he wants to reclaim Germany's reputation as the EU's strongest member.