End of an era: EU says goodbye to Merkel with standing ovations

end of an era
EU says goodbye to Merkel with standing ovations

In her long term in office, Chancellor Merkel has experienced more than 100 EU summits with tough negotiations and night-long debates. Not all of them end pleasantly, but the latest edition does: The other heads of state and government pay tribute to their services.

Chancellor Angela Merkel was greeted with standing ovations at what will probably be her last EU summit. After a speech of thanks by Council President Charles Michel, the other heads of state and government stood up and applauded the longest serving head of government. In his address, Michel emphasized that a summit without Merkel would be like “Rome without the Vatican or Paris without the Eiffel Tower”. As a farewell present, the Chancellor received an “artistic representation” of the Brussels conference building in the Europaviertel.

In her 16-year term in office, Merkel took part in 107 EU summits, as Michel reportedly noted – often with tough negotiations and night-long debates, but also with entertaining moments. “You are a monument,” emphasized the Belgian in his emotional address. The EU will still miss Merkel’s “wisdom”, “sobriety” and mediation skills, “especially in difficult times”.

According to summit participants, a two-minute video with scenes from the past 16 years was shown at the small farewell ceremony in the morning. Merkel can be seen in it with numerous heads of state and government who have not been in office for a long time, it said. For example with French President Jacques Chirac, who died in 2019, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

First summit with Chirac and Blair

Merkel met the French and the British at their first EU summit in December 2005. It was about the EU financial plan for the years 2007 to 2013. At the time, Merkel successfully brokered a compromise between Chirac and Blair.

Meanwhile, it is not entirely certain that the summit, which will run until the afternoon, will really be the last with Merkel. Should the schedule of the traffic light coalition negotiations in Berlin get out of hand, the CDU politician could return to Brussels for the next meeting in mid-December.

Refugees and energy prices at the end

Before the adoption, the heads of state and government discussed the increasing number of refugees entering the EU via the Belarus route at what was presumably the last day of the Merkel summit. The Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said it was about “additional aid to better protect our external borders”. The new Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, on behalf of a group of twelve countries, called for EU funds for the construction of fences and other border protection systems.

The day before, the heads of state and government had dealt with the high energy prices. After disagreements, the heads of state and government agreed to get to the bottom of the causes of the price increase.

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