Berlin - Germany's parliament elected Chancellor Angela Merkel to a new four-year term on Wednesday, a month after her victory in a general election.

Merkel received 323 votes in the 622-member lower house, or Bundestag, where her conservative coalition enjoys a comfortable majority.

The chancellor and her 16-member cabinet of Christian Democrats, the Bavarian Christian Social Union and pro-business Free Democrats were due to be sworn in later in the day.

In her first act as head of the new government, the chancellor was due to fly to Paris later Wednesday for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

On Thursday, she is due to attend the EU summit in Brussels, where Free Democrat leader Guido Westerwelle will make his debut as German foreign minister.

The coalition agreement was signed into life on Monday after three weeks of tough negotiations.

The centre-right government takes over from a Christian Democrat-led coalition with the Social Democrats, who suffered record losses in the September 27 general election.

Merkel told her party that the proposals agreed with the Free Democrats would work to counter the economic crisis, and warned that the country's future remained unpredictable.

Key points of the coalition agreement are 24 billion euros (36 billion dollars) in tax cuts, an overhaul of health care funding and a reduction in compulsory military service from nine to six months. (dpa)