World Bulletin / News Desk

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday hailed as "positive" plans for the EU in a deal that brings German Chancellor Angela Merkel a step closer to forming a coalition government.

"I read the European policy part of the exploratory agreements in a nutshell this morning and I am very satisfied with the content of what the CDU/CSU and the SPD have agreed on a common policy for the future," Juncker said.

Merkel said earlier her Christian Democrats and her Bavarian allies the CSU had reached a breakthrough deal Friday with Germany's second biggest party, the Social Democrats.

She said the agreement reached after 24 hours of talks would give Europe a "fresh start".

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, whose country has just taken over the EU's six-month rotating presidency, urged Berlin to reach a final deal as soon as possible so the bloc can get on with important reforms.

"Hopefully white smoke will come from Germany so it can participate fully in European affairs. Germany is one of the pillars of Europe," Borisov told the press conference alongside Juncker.

"All those topics that we raised depend on cooperation by Chancellor Merkel, on her support in solving the issues. So we are waiting for this quite impatiently."