The Chancellor is fighting to save her political career having failed to form a coalition after the inconclusive result of September’s election.
And Germany‘s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) will today decide whether or not to approve coalition talks with Angela Merkel.
Around 600 SPD delegates will vote on whether the party should negotiate an alliance with Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).
The two parties struck a preliminary deal last week, but an official agreement has yet to be approved.
SPD leader and ex-European Parliament president Martin Schulz must have the backing of his party’s delegates to continue negotiations.
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He is facing a strong backlash from the SPD’s left and youth wings, who claim the blueprint does not bear enough of the party’s hallmarks.
They say the SPD would be better off in opposition after scoring its worst election result since Germany became a federal republic in 1949.
Mr Schulz defended the preliminary deal despite calls for more concessions on labour, health and migration policies.
He tweeted: “Toll-free day care facilities for children, a strong Europe and decent care of the elderly – that will only happen when we join the government.
“To seize the opportunity to considerably help many people is a duty for me.”
A negative vote by the SPD today would prolong Germany’s political deadlock in Europe’s largest economy.
The country has been without a government since the September election, which saw huge gains for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Possible scenarios then would include new elections or a minority government for what would be the first time in Germany’s post-war era.
CDU deputy leader Thomas Strobl has rejected the SPD’s latest demands for more policy changes to be included in the final coalition deal.
He said: “We’ll still be talking about details, but basic things that are not already in the blueprint won’t be added during coalition negotiations.”
Despite this, SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil said expected the delegates to approve the start of coalition talks.
He told German media: “The SPD knows very well what it wants, what it does not want and what is good for the people in the country.”
And an optimistic Mrs Merkel, who has been in power since 2005, said: “We will wait for the SPD party congress and then hopefully start coalition talks.”
Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg