The German election has put the centre-right CDU into power under Friedrich Merz. The CDU will coalition with left-wing parties in order to exclude the AfD, but at the same time, the Greens (who have held the Economy Ministry since the previous government) may also not make the cut, having seen its support decline. That could leave room for a policy change on the country’s energy strategy. The election comes in the wake of a 0.2% economic contraction in Q4, led by manufacturing (down 0.6% in the sector’s seventh quarterly decline in a row), caused by the country’s persistently elevated energy prices. Germany’s manufacturing production indices are down by some 10 points compared to before the Ukraine war and the…