BERLIN, Sept 19: Berlin, not Brussels, will decide the future of the ailing eurozone because Germany’s economic power and its status as the European Union’s main paymaster give it an effective veto over key decisions.
So it comes as a surprise to find that in Berlin’s corridors of power, the main worry is not whether Greece sticks to its reform pledges or Spain demands an EU bailout.
As the world’s third largest exporting nation, Germans are far more concerned about whether China loses its appetite for their machine tools and cars, or about what the famed Teutonic manufacturers should make in the year 2030.
Dominating the stage in Germany is the towering political presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Just over a year before federal elections, she looks unbeatable.
Opinion polls show her CDU/CSU party winning between 35-39 percent, well ahead of the next biggest grouping, the opposition Social Democrats on 26-30 percent. The opposition Greens are in third place on 12-15 percent, with three smaller parties splitting the remainder.
Coalitions are the norm in Germany so it is mathematically possible to imagine a combination of parties which could unseat the Chancellor next year. But few people expect this. “Quite honestly I don’t see any risks for Merkel inside Germany,” one senior opposition politician commented. “She is very strong and highly trusted by the population as a crisis manager.”
Ranked by Forbes as the world’s most powerful woman, Merkel has ruled since 2005 through a canny mixture of political manoeuvring, ruthlessness, determination and a good feel for the concerns of the ordinary German.
Her reluctance to embrace bold, comprehensive solutions to the eurozone crisis from the outset has exasperated some foreign critics. But at home, it chimes well with the national predilection for cautiousness, deliberation, thrift and hard work.
“Southern European countries face a situation like the one I had at school,” said one senior government official. “I went to a good school and unfortunately I found that other students were cleverer than me in certain subjects, so I had to work harder. I could have gone to a different school but I wanted to stay at that school, so I worked harder.”
TO THE BRINK
Merkel took the eurozone close to the brink earlier this year by blocking proposals for European governments to jointly guarantee government borrowing and bank deposits. But she calmed markets in recent weeks by dropping her opposition to the European Central Bank buying the debt of vulnerable southern European governments to lower borrowing costs, provided those nations agree to reform their economies.
“What we’re now saying is that if you’re drowning, we’ll throw you a lifebelt but we’ll only pull you out of the water if you start to make visible swimming movements,” said Michael Naumann, a former SPD minister, publisher and editor.
Such “conditional solidarity” with Germany’s neighbours appeals to a public who are suspicious of the final bill for a eurozone rescue. Germans do not want their hard-fought economic prowess jeopardised by what they regard as irresponsible, free-spending neighbours who failed to embrace necessary economic reform as Germany did earlier this century.
“The key to Merkel’s success is the way she portrays herself as the defender of the German taxpayer, only reluctantly going along with Eurozone rescue deals and doing so at the last minute under duress,” said one ambassador in Berlin.
While other European countries still debate whether Greece should be allowed to stay in the eurozone after failing to meet targets to cut public spending, privatise state assets and open up its economy, officials in Berlin say Germany has already quietly decided to let Athens remain.
“Chancellor Merkel was much more interested in throwing Greece out six months ago, but not now, even though their credibility is close to zero”, one official said. “If you want to know why, look at North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. With all that’s going on there, who wants a NATO member on the southeastern border of the EU to turn into a failed state ?”
(agencies)
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