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InGerman politics, atraffic light coalition (German:Ampelkoalition) is acoalition government of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD), theFree Democratic Party (FDP) andAlliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties'traditional colours, respectively red, yellow, and green, matching the colour sequence of atraffic light (Ampel). So far, the only instance of a traffic light coalition on a federal level in Germany has been inOlaf Scholz'cabinet between 2021 andits collapse over disagreements in November 2024.
The term is also used for similar coalitions betweensocial democrats,liberals andgreens inother countries, which arefrequently associated with the colours red, yellow, and green, respectively.
At astate level, early traffic light coalitions occurred inBrandenburg between1990 and1994 and inBremen between1991 and1995.[1][2] Negotiations to form such a coalition following the2001 Berlin state election were not successful;[3] likewise, preliminary talks after the2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election led to no result.[4] A traffic light coalition was formed inRhineland-Palatinate following the2016 Rhineland-Palatinate state election.[5] The2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election marked the first time in German history that an outgoing traffic light coalition was replaced by a renewed traffic light coalition in a state election.[6]
Historically, there have beenred–green coalitions between the SPD and the Greens (from 1998 to 2005) andsocial-liberal coalitions between the SPD and the FDP (from 1969 to 1982) in theBundestag.[7][8] Despite the common ground oncultural liberalism between the three parties, the FDP'seconomic liberalism and long association at thefederal level with the conservativeChristian Democratic Union (CDU) traditionally made such a coalition problematic,[9] with former FDP chairmanGuido Westerwelle explicitly ruling out this option for the2009 federal election.[10] Previously, the inconclusive2005 federal election had produced media speculation about a traffic light coalition, but no such coalition was formed.[11]
Following the2021 federal election, the SPD emerged as the largest party in the Bundestag, with 25.7%, but did not have enough seats either to govern outright or together with the third place 14.7% Greens. With the SPD and the CDU ruling out agrand coalition with each other, a traffic light coalition was viewed as the most likely outcome by many in the media.[12][13] On 24 November 2021, the SPD, Greens, and FDP announced that they had reached a deal to implement the coalition, with SPD candidateOlaf Scholz set to becomechancellor.[9] The coalition went into effect when Scholz andhis cabinet took office on 8 December 2021.[14] However, the coalition collapsed on6 November 2024 following disagreements between Scholz and his Finance MinisterChristian Lindner, the leader of the FDP; after Lindner refused to support the planned 2025 federal budget, Scholz dismissed him and consequently all FDP ministers resigned, leaving a SPD-Greens minority government.[15]
InAustralia, a "traffic light coalition" could refer to a coalition between theLabor Party, theAustralian Greens andAustralian Democrats. Though such a coalition was never formed, as Labor and the Greens never formed a coalition until the2010 Tasmanian state election. However, following the2001 Australian Capital Territory election, Labor formed a minority government supported by the Greens and the Democrats, the closest thing to a "traffic light" coalition ever experienced. In the lead up to the2024 Tasmanian state election a coalition involving Labor, the Greens and theJacqui Lambie Network was discussed.[16] The JLN is not a liberal party but rather a big tent populist party.[17]
InAustria, the termAmpelkoalition has been borrowed from Germany to describe a theoretical coalition of theSocial Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ),The Greens, and a liberal party. In the 1990s, this referred to theLiberal Forum (LiF). In the 2010s, the term reemerged to describe a theoretical coalition of the SPÖ, Greens, andNEOS – The New Austria, the latter of which is the successor to the Liberal Forum. NEOS's colour ispink, rather than yellow.[18]
TheVerhofstadt I Government ofBelgium, headed by Prime MinisterGuy Verhofstadt from 1999 to 2003, comprised liberals (theFlemish Liberals and Democrats and French-speakingLiberal Reformist Party), socialists (the FlemishSocialist Party and the French-speakingSocialist Party), and greens (the FlemishAgalev and the French-speakingEcolo).[citation needed] However, as the political colours of the liberal parties were blue instead of yellow, it was known as the "purple-green" coalition.
Following the2013 general election in Luxembourg, negotiations started with the aim of forming a three-party coalition government comprising theLuxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), theDemocratic Party (DP) andThe Greens in order to oust theChristian Social People's Party (CSV) of the incumbent Prime MinisterJean-Claude Juncker.[19] This variant on the traffic light coalition is known as a "Gambia coalition" (Luxembourgish:Gambia(-)Koalitioun, Gambiakoalitioun), as the party colours match theflag of the Gambia,[20][21] and Luxembourg's liberal party (DP) uses blue as its party colour rather than yellow.
InRomania the term of traffic light coalition has recently been described as a coalition consisting ofSocial Democratic Party (PSD),National Liberal Party (PNL) and theHungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ).[22] Afterpolitical crisis of 2021 which resulted in the breakup of thecenter-right coalition between the PNL, theUSR and the UDMR, a traffic light government was elected (also called theNational Coalition for Romania) consisting of PSD, PNL and UDMR,Ciucă Cabinet.[23]
As a result of the2024 parliamentary election, the traffic light government formula between PSD, PNL and UMDR returned, this time under theSecond Ciolacu Cabinet.[24]
In theUnited Kingdom the term has been used to describe a coalition between theLabour Party, theLiberal Democrats and theGreen Party of England and Wales, notably that which has run theCity of Lancasterdistrict council from time to time, including from the2019 election.[25][26]
For theApril 2024 elections, theJustice Party and theGreen Party announced the formation of an election alliance, the Green-Justice Party, and thus creating the start Korea's version of a left-wing traffic light coalition. The Labor Party announced in early 2025 that they would join the alliance, forming the full traffic light coalition.[27] Since theimpeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol triggered aPresidential Election, the three progressive parties have announced that they will field a joint candidate.
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