Germany’s Social Democrats (SDP) have voted for coalition negotiations with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, their former coalition partners.
Earlier this month the two groupings agreed a blueprint for formal talks.
Mrs Merkel’s centre-right CDU and its Bavarian CSU ally have been unable to form a government since September’s inconclusive election. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 94 seats in parliament.
Initially the SPD ruled out governing with Mrs Merkel in charge again. But leader Martin Schulz changed his mind after CDU/CSU coalition talks with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens broke down. In preparatory talks earlier this month, the parties overcame key sticking points on issues such as migration.
They agreed to limit asylum-seeker arrivals to about 200,000 annually and may also cap at 1,000 a month the number of migrants who will be allowed to join relatives living in Germany.
