Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new junior partner in government, the pro-business Free Democrats, approved a four-year coalition program that points Germany toward tax cuts and a reprieve for nuclear energy.

The FDP convention approved the platform without dissent, while five delegates abstained from the vote, which was carried out by a show of hand at the assembly in Berlin’s former Tempelhof airport today.

“Today is not only a great day for our party but overall a great day for Germany and for its citizens,” FDP head Guido Westerwelle, designated foreign minister and deputy chancellor, said at the convention. He also said he wants to negotiate with U.S. President Barack Obama to withdraw all remaining nuclear weapons from Germany.

Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the FDP yesterday agreed on the four-year program and a reshaped Cabinet, making Wolfgang Schaeuble, 67, finance minister from his prior law-enforcement post of interior minister. Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg will move to defense.

The three-party policy plan seeks a 24 billion-euro ($36 billion) tax cut aimed at low and mid-level earners, starting with relief for families with children on Jan. 1.

The coalition plan also calls for extending the operating time of German nuclear plants with the government claiming most of the windfall profits, overturning a law passed under former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that shuts them down by about 2021. Separately, the government will seek talks with solar-energy industry on possible “adjustments” to avoid “excessive subsidies,” according to the coalition draft.

The two Christian Democratic parties will hold conventions tomorrow to approve the policy program. Parliament’s 611-member lower house convenes Oct. 27 and may formally re-elect Merkel as chancellor the next day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Holger Elfes in Dusseldorf at helfes@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 25, 2009 12:25 EDT