At the start of the party conference on Friday, Merz sharply criticized the policy of the traffic light government in the energy crisis. He spoke of a "red-yellow-green ship of fools" and asked Scholz to correct the course.

CSU boss Markus Söder, who was invited to the party conference as a guest, took the same line on Saturday. The federal government seems "increasingly overwhelmed" when it comes to making the right decisions, he told delegates from the sister party. "You can almost feel the fear and nervousness at the traffic light that it cannot live up to expectations."

This was shown by Merz's speech as Union faction leader this week at the general debate in the Bundestag, said the Bavarian Prime Minister. "And what was the answer: a screaming Chancellor."

Söder then aimed primarily at Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens). He seems more and more like a "whining poster boy" trying to cover up "technical errors" in the gas levy. Habeck's decision to only take two of the three German nuclear power plants as a reserve after the turn of the year and not to let all the nuclear power plants continue to run was "simply and simply wrong". The Greens risk a "severe blackout" in Germany.

After Merz and Söder had already announced a restart in the relationship between the CDU and CSU in February after the difficult relationship before the 2021 federal election, the Bavarian Prime Minister in Hanover confirmed the will to unite. "2021 was not our best year," said Söder. "Many mistakes were made - (...) of course also by me". But the CDU and CSU learned from it. Now the cooperation between the sister parties is "excellent".