Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) are currently entering into the final days of negotiations before they form a so-called "grand coalition" government together. But both sides have taken pains in recent days to send out the message that this marriage of political convenience will be a temporary one.

For years it had been taboo for the SPD to consider governing together with the Left Party, which was created through the merger of the PDS, the successor to the East German Communist Party, and the western German WASG party. Last week, though, party boss Sigmar Gabriel said his party would begin talks with the Left Party that could potentially lead to a coalition government that would include the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party after the next election in 2017.

The 'Pizza Connection'

Not to be outdone, Merkel's conservatives are also letting it be known they have another option as well. The party is opening up an ongoing line of communication with the Greens with the aim of a possible future government. They briefly flirted right after the Sept. 29 election, but initial talks didn't go anywhere and it was soon clear that, this time around at least, Merkel would prefer to govern with the SPD. With an eye to 2017, though, she'd like to keep the Green option on the table.

Members of the CDU and the Green Party first explored the idea of governing together at some point in the distant future at an Italian restaurant in Bonn in the mid-1990s, an obscure chapter of German political history known as the "pizza connection."

The conservative daily Die Welt reported on Friday that members of the CDU and Greens are now planning to reprise the cheesily named pizza connection as a regular, semi-official forum.

What may have seemed like a longshot during the 1990s looks a lot different today. Although the CDU and the Greens have not governed together nationally, they have at the regional level. Indeed, it appears that the two parties are about to form their latest government coalition in the state of Hesse.

A Radically Altered Political Landscape

Under the plans, around 30 members of parliament with the CDU, its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and the Greens plan to meet on a regular basis to find common ground.

"The main objective is to get talks going again with a certain degree of commitment," said CDU health expert Jens Spahn, who is leading the initiative from the conservative side. "We want to find areas of common ground, but also to just get to know each other better."

Both parties said the semi-official talks had been agreed to at the highest levels and that they would also include members representative of party wings that have the potential to create the greatest friction. The conservatives want to include the a few very conservative members and those who represent industry, and the Greens will include their left-wing faction.