Negotiators from German election winner Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democrats have started exploratory talks on a possible coalition government.

With German politicians now debating potential abrupt reforms to the country's strict balanced budget rules, some left-leaning politicians found themselves exasperated by conservative leader Friedrich Merz's quick post-election reversal on the issue.

Germany's presumptive next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, described his three-hour meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday as a great success, in which the two leaders found broad agreement.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's conservative chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz agreed during a meeting in Paris to open a new chapter in Franco-German relations, a source close to Merz told Reuters.

French President Emmanuel Macron will dine with Germany's chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday evening, the Elysee said. The palace said the two leaders would meet for a "working dinner" but gave no further detail.