Germany’s political groups officially kicked off their campaign trail after Chancellor Scholz lost a no-confidence vote on Tuesday (17 December). With a snap election now set for February, the race is well underway.

From their manifestos, both the SPD (S&D) and CDU/CSU (EPP) appear to be carefully calibrating their messaging on key voter concerns – such as aid to Ukraine, economic policy, and migration. Their goal? To win over voters without shutting the door on future coalition deals.

But which alliances stand a real chance, and what is the strategy behind the catchy slogans?

In this episode, host Giada Santana teams up with Euractiv’s Berlin-based reporters, Nick Alipour and Jasper Steinlein, to unpack how the CDU/CSU and SPD are branding themselves and the strategies driving their campaigns.