FRANKFURT, Germany, June 3 (UPI) -- Germany's center-right parties, sensing a win in the September elections, are working on a number of economic changes favoring the private sector.
The changes cover healthcare, taxation and labor policies designed to not only improve business conditions, but reshape government finances, the International Herald Tribune reported.
These parties are aware it is the country's unemployment which has idled 5 million people that will bring down the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Their policies also are aimed at reducing businesses' cost and the risk of hiring workers.
Angela Merkel was unanimously nominated Monday as the opposition candidate for Schroeder's job.
She and a center-right coalition are laying the groundwork for a campaign emphasizing the need to make painful choices on economic policies, the Tribune said.
Norbert Walter, chief economist for Deutsche Bank, says to curb Germany's non-wage labor costs, currently about 40 percent of total wages, any new government will have to grapple with changes to healthcare.
