Paul Ziemiak, the CDU general secretary, told a news conference in Berlin that the conservatives were ready "to begin the process of renewal and reinvent ourselves".
CDU leader Armin Laschet signalled his decision to resign last week after the party suffered its worst federal election defeat ever in 26 September legislative polls. He said that the party leadership should be replaced from the chairman to the federal executive committee.
Ziemiak said local party bosses would meet in late October to discuss how many party members should be involved in choosing the next leadership.
"We know we will need to include more of the members. We decided to call a conference of district bosses for 30 October… Following this debate, we will meet on 2 November to decide on the member participation… and set the date of the federal party congress", he said.
Ziemiak said the CDU still hoped to be part of the next federal government and was following closely the ongoing coalition negotiations between the rival Social Democrats and two smaller runner-up parties.