According to the preliminary official results of the election for the 21st German Bundestag on February 23, 2025, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD), BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN, the parliamentary group DIE LINKE as well as the AfD have been elected to parliament. Now, challenging coalition negotiations are set to begin – and with them, the course will be set for the future of the country. Numerous representatives of the fruit, vegetable, and potato industries have also already reacted to the election results.
The decision has been made: with 28.5 percent of the vote and 208 seats for now, the CDU is the big winner of the 2025 federal election, followed by the AfD (20.8 percent) and the SPD (16.4 percent). In line with the forecasts, the AfD did particularly well in the Eastern German federal states. The FDP and the BSW did not make it into the Bundestag and remained below the required 5 percent.
Reduce trade barriers & ensure food security
The Deutsche Kartoffelhandelsverband e. V. (DKHV) calls on the new government to: Consistently reduce bureaucracy, strengthen the competitiveness of companies, reduce international trade barriers, and ensure food security in the long term. "The potato industry, as part of the agricultural and food sector, is a central pillar of the German economy and deserves framework conditions that enable growth and innovation. Now it is important to make the right decisions," says the association. The BOGK, which represents fruit, vegetable, and potato processors, has also already announced similar election demands.
The Zentralverband Gartenbau (ZVG), the central horticultural association, has also reacted to the election result and is now calling for a swift formation of a government. The association expects concrete measures to end Germany's economic paralysis. "Our country, our economy, and also the horticultural sector expect important political decisions to be made quickly and purposefully," emphasizes ZVG President Eva Kähler-Theuerkauf.
Forming a government is of crucial importance for promptly setting the course for significant decisions. This is the only way to ensure that German politics reacts quickly and effectively to the many challenges currently facing the country, Europe, and the world. In particular, the new government, led by the CDU and CSU, must transform the economic paralysis in Germany into a dynamic upturn.
The expectations of companies, including those in the horticultural sector, are high in this regard. A pressing task is to strengthen the economy's competitiveness politically. For the German horticultural sector, as a critical economic factor, especially in rural areas, this means, among other things, reduction of energy and CO₂ costs, especially for energy-intensive companies, 1:1 implementation of EU law, for example in the approval of pesticides, competitive corporate taxes, but also a significant reduction in bureaucracy. The ZVG therefore urgently appeals to all political decision-makers to use the time after the federal election to quickly form a stable and effective government.
Interesting coalition talks
"Traditionally, agriculture is rather right-wing oriented and there are many current issues that either directly or indirectly affect the agricultural sector. The coalition talks will be particularly exciting in light of the Ukraine conflict and the trade war. However, reaching forward-looking compromises among three partners who are fundamentally opposed to each other just to prevent the AfD from gaining further ground seems to me to be an extremely difficult task," says a business owner from Brandenburg.