Wednesday November 24th 2021
Merkel is too hesitant
EU politicians hope for courageous Chancellor Scholz
Angela Merkel is an avowed European, but many EU parliamentarians are often too reluctant to act. There is now hope that things will be different under the designated Chancellor Scholz. There is no shortage of challenges. The collaboration with Ursula von der Leyen will be interesting.
“With courage for Europe”: That was the name of an event at which Olaf Scholz appeared at the end of June and at which he promoted a strong Europe. Many EU partners and politicians in the European Parliament are also hoping for a German chancellor who is as courageous as possible. Because from fighting pandemics to climate protection and refugee policy: Europe is facing enormous tasks.
“Europe is looking to Berlin today,” said the Green MEP Sven Giegold on the occasion of the presentation of the eagerly awaited coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP in Berlin. Many people hoped that the new federal government would “put an end to the hesitation and hesitation in Brussels,” says Giegold. Because although Chancellor Angela Merkel was adopted with hymns of praise at the EU summit in October, quite a few in Brussels accuse her of adopting a wait-and-see attitude. At the same time, however, there is uncertainty about what exactly the line of the “traffic light” should be. After all, European politics hardly played a role in the German election campaign.
“What is the German course, what does Germany stand for? We need to be clear about this very quickly,” warned the Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg of the conservative Austrian People’s Party. “The traffic light coalition must focus on European politics, otherwise there is a high risk that Germany will be deregistered there,” emphasizes the CSU European politician Manfred Weber, who heads the European People’s Party in the EU Parliament. The previous finance minister, Scholz, is by no means a stranger to Brussels. But Weber still considers the footsteps he is following to be very big: “Angela Merkel leaves a big gap,” emphasizes the CSU man.
Did Scholz drag on Ursula von der Leyen?
What EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen thinks of the future German government is a well-kept secret. The Brussels Commission has not commented on domestic policy in member states since the federal elections at the end of September. It is rumored in Brussels that Scholz thinks the former Federal Defense Minister and Merkel confidante is a politician who is more interested in the headlines. Because of the initially sluggish vaccine procurement by the EU Commission, the ruled Hamburger is said to have lost his composure once in the Berlin cabinet and pulled over von der Leyen. Does this mean that Scholz will become the opponent of the powerful head of the commission? Or is he ultimately pulling in the same direction with her because his traffic light coalition wants to advance key EU projects such as climate protection? The first indications should be given at the next Brussels summit on December 16 and 17, at which Scholz will make his first appearance as Chancellor according to the current plans.
The European politician Martin Schirdewan from the Left Party expects little change: “When the sweet cannabis smoke has cleared, there will be disillusionment,” he says. Because of the sometimes contradicting positions of the traffic light parties, he fears a continued “policy of standstill” in social, environmental or tax policy, for example. Even the satirist Martin Sonneborn, who has been in the European Parliament since 2014, cannot imagine that Olaf Scholz will mutate into a kind of European father courage: “I expect that the interests of the German economy will continue to be put before the interests of our 26 satellite states”, he etches.