In the campaign for this Sunday's federal election in Germany, the two main parties, Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democrats (CDU) and Gerhard Schröder's Social Democrats (SDP), have unsurprisingly chosen to focus their campaigns on unemployment, immigration and crime. The science policies of these parties are largely identical, and science issues will only come to the fore if the Green party forms part of the next government — the most likely outcome.

Some scientists are alarmed by this prospect. It would lead to little change in research policy itself: Schröder would be unlikely to hand over the research ministry to the Greens, as they wished. However, the junior coalition partner would probably be given the environment ministry: bad news for the biotechnology and nuclear industries.

As the Greens have edged closer to power they have shed some of their more uncompromising positions. Their election platform still calls for a complete ban on field trials of genetically modified crops, however, as well as a tightening of gene-related laws. When Joschka Fischer, now leader of the Green party, became environment minister in Hessen in 1985, he managed to delay for years permission for Hoechst to open a plant making genetically engineered human insulin. He also closed Germany's only plutonium reprocessing plant.

And recently, Rainder Steenblock, Green environment minister in SPD-Green Schleswig-Holstein, opposed planned field trials of genetically modified crops run by AgrEvo (Nature 394, 819–847; 1998).

As senior coalition partner, the SDP would oppose any move by a Green environment minister to outlaw such trials — but it would have to balance the strength of such opposition against any threat to the stability of the coalition government. A Green environment minister could also expedite the closure of nuclear power stations, with serious implications for German energy policy.

Science and technology issues may have got lost in the election campaign, but they will return to the fore if an SPD-Green government is the outcome.