It may be celebrations for Angela Merkel as she toasts a third term as German chancellor – but does she face a difficult future?<br /><br />Merkel’s conservatives scored their best result in over two decades in a German election but were forced into lengthy coalition talks with the rival Social Democrats (SPD), whose members only approved the deal last weekend.<br /><br />The vote in the Bundestag was a formality as the ruling parties hold an overwhelming majority of the seats.<br /><br />A total of 462 Members of Parliament backed Merkel for chancellor, with 150 voting against and nine abstaining.<br /><br />The new government faces a host of challenges, from bedding down European reforms aimed at shielding the bloc from future crises, to seeing through Merkel’s costly switch from nuclear to renewable energy.<br /><br />Germany’s tough stance on fiscal discipline is unlikely to change under the new coalition.<br /><br />The SPD’s membership voted on Sunday to back the coalition after painstaking negotiations. <br /><br />The party hammered out a minimum national wage that will come into force for the first time in 2015.<br /><br />As the EU’s most industrialised state with the biggest economy, Germany dominates decision-making for the eurozone. <br /><br />“I accept the election result and thank you for your trust,” said Mrs Merkel after the confirmation vote in the Bundestag. Smiling, she received a bouquet of flowers and shook hands with other MPs. <br /><br />The coalition talks had been the longest for any German government since since World War II.<br /><br />Trusted Merkel ally, Wolfgang Schaeuble will remain finance minister in the new government, one of 10 CDU/CSU politicians in the 16-strong cabinet.<br /><br />“His name stands for euro stability and I’m glad that he’s continuing,” Mrs Merkel said after news of the new line-up emerged.<br /><br />Other CDU/CSU picks include Ursula von der Leyen as defence minister and Thomas de Maiziere as interior minister.<br /><br />The SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel will become economy minister and deputy chancellor, while Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be foreign minister.<br /><br />Germany’s newspapers welcomed the ministerial line-up agreed between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU and Gabriel’s SPD.<br /><br />The team is seen as a better reflection of society than previous cabinets.<br /><br />The decision to pick a woman for the post of defence minister wins particular praise, but a new digital infrastructure portfolio raises eyebrows.<br /><br />The nomination of Christian Democrat Ursula von der Leyen as the new defence minister is generally seen as a big surprise. The daily Die Welt even talks of a “sensation”.
