Germany faces its second change of leader in less than four years after the head of the center-right opposition won Sunday’s election.

An election win for Germany's conservatives has eased concerns of political gridlock in Europe's biggest economy, though it failed to lift uncertainty around whether a new government can deliver fiscal reforms that would boost sluggish growth.

Germany’s highest-stakes election in years is paving the way for a pivot to increased spending, with markets predicting the end of an era for constrained fiscal policy.

The next German government faces calls to loosen borrowing rules, slash energy costs and spur innovation. It won’t be easy.

German politicians reacted on Monday to the preliminary results of the federal parliamentary elections, in which the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU),

Germany's Robert Habeck, who had run in Sunday's election as the chancellor candidate for the environmentalist Greens, said he would no longer take a leading role in his party after what he described as a disappointing result.