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Macron ‘would support’ Merkel for Commission president

Marion Solletty — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 20:51:15 +0000

German Chancellor Angela Merkel greets French President Emmanuel Macron | Carsten Koall/Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday told Swiss TV station RTS that he would back German Chancellor Angela Merkel for European Commission president.

Asked about his stance in ongoing negotiations on EU top jobs, Macron said: “Europe needs strong personalities, it needs people with personal credibility and skills to fill the positions.”

The French president reiterated that he had reservations about the Spitzenkandidatprocess, a procedure first used in 2014 whereby European political parties, ahead of European elections, appoint lead candidates for Commission president, with that position then going to the candidate of the party capable of forming a majority in the newly elected Parliament.

Asked specifically about Merkel, he said: “I won’t speak for Angela Merkel,” Macron said. But “should she want it, I would support her. Of course. Because I think we need someone strong.”

Merkel has so far stood by Germany’s Manfred Weber, the Spitzenkandidat for the European People’s Party, and has not indicated interest in the position for herself.

EU leaders and policymakers are currently considering potential candidates for EU top jobs, with negotiations ongoing both in the Parliament and among member states.

“There are four key positions,” Macron told RTS: the Commission presidency, the high representative for foreign affairs, the Parliament presidency and the Council presidency. “I am attached to having two men and two women. We need parity,” he added.

Macron didn’t mention the European Central Bank presidency as part of the package, seemingly joining the ranks of those who think this race should be run strictly on its own merits.

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-would-support-merkel-for-commission-president/

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Brexit is a ‘DEEP WOUND’ for the European Union – Merkel admits damage of UK’s exit

Joe Barnes - Brussels Correspondent — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 05:21:07 +0000

BREXIT is a “deep wound” in the side of the European Union, warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she gave a speech to the EU Parliament in Strasbourg.

The German Chancellor told the European Union’s Parliament of the damage done to the Brussels project after Britain decided to quit the bloc. Her statement came as part of a so-called ‘Future of Europe’ debate, where EU leaders are invited to Strasbourg to deliver a speech on their outlook for the bloc. Mrs Merkel was given a standing ovation by MEPs as she entered the chamber with the Parliament’s president Antoni Tajani.

Mr Tajani thanked her for taking part in the “very important” debate, adding: “We need to change Europe but would be a big change to destroy Europe.”

The German Chancellor said: “The United Kingdom is a country that is soon leaving, this is a deep wound.”

She then praised Brussels negotatior Michel Barnier, adidng: “We can all applaud him for the work he has done.”

Mrs Merkel warned MEPs that the EU’s values are being challenged by populists across the entire Continent.

She said: “We are seeing our values called into question.”

Appealing for EU unity, she urged countries to work together more closely and ditch their “national egos” for the benefit of the bloc.

Angela Merkel arrives at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg to deliver ‘future of Europe’ speech (Image: EbS)

She said: “Europe can only be a voice to the world if it works together. Therefor we have to overcome national egoism.

“We took too long to realize the issue of refugees is a common problem in Europe.

“Respecting others is not in contradiction with serving our self-interest.”

The German Chancellor admit her own mistakes in allowing over one million migrants into Germany during the 2015 migration crisis.

She told MEPs, Germany should have pressed other member states to accept their own share of migrants.

She said: “Took far too long, to realise the issue of refugees was an issue for the whole of Europe and not just Germany.”

During pauses in her speech, a number of MEPs can be heard booing.

Mrs Merkel showed delight and said it was “great” that she was annoying people while in the EU Parliament.

The German also backed French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for a “real European army”.

She prompted heckles from the Ukip MEPs when she suggested Brussels should move to create a “true European army”.

She said: “We have to look at the vision of one day creating a real true European army.

“I am not saying anything against NATO, we can be a supplement to NATO.”

Under her plans, there would be a ‘European Security Council with a rotating presidency.

Jean-Claude Juncker described Brexit as a ‘historical mistake’ (Image: EbS)

Speaking after Mrs Merkel, Jean-Claude Juncker said: “we are not seeking to punish the UK.”

The European Commission President added: “Britain played a major role in the liberty and freedom of this Continent.

“But this is not a reason to leave the great history between the British isles and the EU.

“I think that leaving is a historical error.”

And once again, the end of Mr Juncker’s speech was met with a number of heckles.

The European People’s Party’s Manfred Weber discussed the “consequences” of Brexit, insisting the argument of Brexiteers had been “very fruitful” while demanding their sovereignty back.

The German, who is vying to replace Mr Juncker as Commission President, said: “With Brexit, it has all shown us this argument – ‘we want our soveringty back’ – it works, it is very fruitful.

“We need a new approach, we have to build a bridge between a decision-making process and the people.”

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1044759/EU-news-Angela-Merkel-Germany-European-Parliament-future-of-Europe-speech-live

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‘Europe without Angela Merkel is possible’

Deutsche Welle — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 23:32:24 +0000

Many EU member states did not agree with her refugee policies, others criticized her austerity stance. Brussels now regards Angela Merkel’s step-by-step withdrawal as a chance for new beginnings, says DW’s Bernd Riegert.

For many observers in Brussels, the twilight of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship in Berlin, which has now begun with her decision not to run again for CDU leader, comes as no surprise. After the failed EU refugee summit, political news portal Politico wrote off Angela Merkel as early as this summer. The chancellor’s assertiveness had suffered badly because of the internal quarrels in her grand coalition of CDU, CSU and SPD. “How Merkel divides the EU,” Politico wrote back then.

That was even before the state elections in Bavaria and Hesse and their severe losses for the grand coalition. But even then, it was clear that Merkel’s 2015 refugee policy course had facilitated the rise of populists in many EU countries. She was unable to enforce the solidarity she demanded on migration policies, nor a binding distribution of refugees. Only recently has she advocated closing off the EU’s external borders while setting up asylum centers in North Africa.

Some ‘will be pleased’

Long before Italy’s current populist government was at odds with the chancellor, there were protests against her EU policies

Many in Poland, Hungary and Italy will hardly shed a tear for Merkel once she gives up the chancellorship. Many politicians in states bogged down by financial crises consider Merkel’s role in overcoming the financial and euro crisis in Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and now Italy to be wrong, calling it too rigid, too austerity-oriented.

“Of course, Europe without Angela Merkel is possible,” says Janis Emmanouilidis, head of the European Policy Center think tank. “If you have a leading role like Germany and its chancellor do, then of course there will be countries and governments who are less satisfied with what Germany does,” he told DW. As such, he explained, there will be people in Eastern and Southern Europe who will be pleased when the chancellor is gone.

Merkel underestimated the refugee issue, Matteo Salvini, Italy’s radical right-wing interior minister, told DW in an interview in September. With an eye on Sunday’s election defeat in Hesse, Salvini said the result was a “blow with a hammer” for Merkel.

Embittered after austerity gripped the country, Greek protesters didn’t pull punches on their feelings toward Merkel

Merkel’s stability ‘a great asset’

Most EU states value her, according to Emmanouilidis — not least because she is the longest-serving head of government in the bloc, and simply has the most experience in Europe. People appreciated stability in Berlin, he argues. “In times of uncertainty, stability is a great asset.”

Many politicians at the EU’s headquarters in Brussels will have to get used to the fact that “Mutti” (mommy), as Merkel is fondly called by many in her party and the coalition government, might be leaving in the foreseeable future, says Emmanouilidis. She’s been in power for 13 years, so it is difficult to imagine politics without her, but her succession will be arranged, he adds. “There will be the first day after Merkel, a time after Merkel.”

Policy expert Emmanouilidis: It’s hard to imagine Europe without Merkel, but an orderly transition will be arranged

Decisions shelved

For months now, decisions on migration, Brexit or reform of the eurozone at the EU level have been postponed — due partly to the hesitant German chancellor who was too busy with the coalition at home to make time for the EU’s urgent crises. By announcing that she will give up the party chair and not run again for chancellor in 2021, some observers see her as a lame duck.

Longtime German finance minister and current Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, however, disputed that characterization in a DW interview, saying that “her position is constitutionally strong” and that she’s likely to stay put as chancellor for years to come.

Germany, the largest and financially strongest member state, will of course continue to shape the EU regardless. EU diplomats do not expect progress on negotiations on the EU’s common budget before the European elections in May 2019. Günther Oettinger, whom Merkel sent to Brussels as EU commissioner, is responsible for the budget.

It also remains unclear what Merkel’s retreat in installments means for Manfred Weber, a member of the CSU who hopes to be nominated as the top candidate of the European People’s Party next week, with an eye on the post of president of the EU Commission. Germany’s head of government actually has a deciding voice in the matter.

Macron and his ‘good friend’: With her departure on the horizon, the French president may seize the chance to stake out a position as ‘the new Merkel’

Macron needs a new partner

French President Emmanuel Macron is unlikely to be particularly pleased by Merkel’s possible departure from the European stage. With the help of his “good friend Angela” he planned to advance his reform agenda for the monetary union. There is bound to be a period of uncertainty, says EU expert Emmanouilidis — not what Macron was hoping for.

On the other hand, he adds, the chancellor and the government have not responded to Macron’s proposals anyway. “The question is how this will develop after Merkel’s departure,” says the think tank researcher. It could also be an opportunity for Emmanuel Macron if Merkel leaves the driver’s seat.

The chancellor today also put an end to any speculation in Brussels that she might be aiming for a position in the European Union’s top management. Observers argued she could move to Brussels next year, either as president of the EU Commission or as president of the European Council. Both posts are up for grabs again in about a year.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, CDU

Kramp-Karrenbauer, also known as AKK, was Merkel’s choice to become general secretary of the CDU in 2018. She is reputedly Merkel’s pick as a successor as party leader. AKK headed a CDU-SPD coalition as state premier in the small southwestern state of Saarland before becoming the CDU’s general secretary. She is considered a moderate who would continue Merkel’s centrist policies.

Jens Spahn, CDU

The 38-year-old is the youngest and most overtly determined Merkel usurper. He entered the Bundestag in 2002 and became Germany’s health minister in 2018. Spahn, who is openly gay, is popular in the CDU’s conservative wing. He opposes limited dual citizenship for young foreigners, criticized attempts to loosen laws on advertising abortions and called for banning the Burqa in public.

Friedrich Merz, CDU

The former leader of the CDU/CSU grouping in the Bundestag has been out of frontline politics since leaving the Bundestag in 2009. But the 62-year-old announced his intention to replace Merkel within hours of the news that she would be stepping down. Merz reportedly fell out with Merkel after she replaced him as CDU/CSU group leader in 2002. He has been a chairman at Blackrock since 2016.

Armin Laschet, CDU

Laschet became state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2017. His win marked a major defeat for Social Democrats in Germany’s 18 million-strong “coal” state. The Catholic and former journalist, 57, has been branded by his critics as “too nice for politics.” He is also one of the five deputies in the national CDU executive.

Julia Klöckner, CDU

Klöckner became agriculture minister in 2018 and has been CDU chief in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2011. In 1995, before entering politics, she became Germany’s “Wine Queen.” Like Spahn, she belongs to the CDU’s conservative wing. She raised eyebrows in 2016 when she proposed an alternative plan to Merkel’s refugee policy.

Peter Altmaier, CDU

Altmeier, known as “Merkel’s bodyguard,” has supported the chancellor’s centrist policy platform on multiple fronts. Originally from Saarland, Altmaier first worked for the European Union before entering the Bundestag in 1994. The former environment minister turned economy minister is renowned for his kitchen diplomacy and being a stickler for policy detail.

Ursula von der Leyen, CDU

Von der Leyen became defense minister in 2013 after serving a stint as labor minister. Despite her reform efforts, defense spending remains stubbornly low and the military continues to suffer from widespread equipment shortages. Von der Leyen, who studied in the United States and Britain, supports a larger role for Germany abroad and improving links between national armies in the European Union.

Volker Bouffier, CDU

Volker Bouffier has been the premier of the central state of Hesse since 2010. He formerly served as the state’s interior minister and has twice “won” Big Brother awards from German data privacy advocates for propagating closer surveillance methods by police. The 66-year-old currently heads a CDU-Greens state government in Hesse and is a deputy chairperson in the national CDU executive.

Wolfgang Schäuble, CDU

Schäuble is one of the CDU’s most experienced politicians. He is well-known throughout Europe for his time as finance minister from 2009 to 2017, when he took a hard line against the Greek government. But Schäuble’s decision to give up a senior ministerial role to become president of the German parliament suggests the 75-year-old has already entered the twilight of his political career.

Markus Söder, CSU

Söder is Bavaria’s state premier and a member of the CDU’s sister party, the CSU. He is therefore ineligible to replace Merkel as CDU head. But Söder, who became premier earlier this year, could become chancellor if the CDU and CSU together nominate him as their combined candidate for the 2021 election. He has been a vocal critic of Merkel’s refugee policy and Greece’s membership of the euro.

Author: Ian P. Johnson, Alexander Pearson

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/europe-without-angela-merkel-is-possible/a-46081728

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The end of Germany’s two-party system is on the horizon

Irish Examiner — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 05:56:41 +0000

This weekend’s regional election in Germany will provide further proof of a fragmenting political landscape, writes Slawomir Sierakowski.

The German Social Democrats’ (SPD) existential crisis can no longer be treated as a typical party crisis. The party captured a mere 9.7% of the vote in regional elections in Bavaria this month, and it is trailing the populist Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) and the Greens in national opinion polls.

With another important regional election next week in Hesse, polls indicate that the SPD will lose still more support, though not as dramatically as in Bavaria.

The SPD and the Christian Democratic Union/ Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) have stood as the twin pillars of German politics since the end of World War II. However, with the SPD declining, Germany is moving from a de facto two-party system to a multiparty system in which no single party plays a dominant role.

The German post-war consensus is collapsing in key areas: history (attitudes toward WWII); geopolitics (attitudes toward Russia); the economy (attitudes toward the car industry); and ethics (attitudes toward refugees).

This is reflected in the fracturing of the political scene.

German voters have rejected the longstanding CDU/ CSU-SPD “grand coalition”. Whereas smaller parties once functioned as mere subsidiaries of either the SPD or the CDU/ CSU, the bit players are now eclipsing the former stars.

Moreover, what was once “Red Munich” has now turned Green. Whereas cities had long been SPD strongholds, they are switching to the Greens and other smaller parties. Making matters worse for the SPD, the demographic profile of its core electorate amounts to a death sentence. Only 8% of SPD voters are under the age of 30, and 54% are over 60. By contrast, just 24% of Greens are over 60. And Die Linke, meanwhile, has become increasingly attractive to younger new leftists and ageing post-communists from the former East Germany.

Just as a two-party system ensures stability and predictability, so might its collapse contribute to radical social change. By definition, the fall of the establishment implies the rise of the anti-establishment, often in the form of populism.

Since 2005, the SPD has participated as the minority partner in three grand-coalition governments. As a result, it has come to be associated with the status quo, even though it hasn’t been able to claim direct credit for the previous governments’ successes.

Something similar happened in Austria, where the Social Democratic Party ruled either alone or in conjunction with the Austrian People’s Party between 1971 and 1999 (except for 1983-1986). Such long periods of grand-coalition rule allowed for the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria to present itself as an agent for change.

When a grand coalition is threatened, its members tend to panic. Those who toe the party line lose support, as German chancellor Angela Merkel has. Others thus attempt to appropriate populist language, as CSU leader Horst Seehofer has done in recent months, while still others will try to associate themselves with new political platforms.

Hence, Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU has promised a “conservative revolution,” while Martin Schulz, the erstwhile leader of the SPD, has promoted EU federation.

At any rate, when the constituent parts of a coalition start moving in different directions, things quickly fall apart. Still, it is worth noting that while the SPD and the CDU are currently losing support, their ideas remain popular.

Their problem is not that they are devoid of ideas, but that they lack political credibility.

This credibility deficit has created a vacuum for other parties to fill. Thus, the Greens have made gains in Bavaria by supporting an open-door refugee policy that actually originated with the CDU/SPD.

Likewise, the AfD has wrested the anti-refugee mantle away from the CSU and Seehofer, who went so far as to try to undermine Merkel’s government from within while serving as Minister of the Interior. The common thread connecting all of the parties that performed well in the Bavarian election is that they ran politicians who are at least consistent in their views.

Unfortunately for Germany, multiparty systems are generally unstable and less predictable, which explains why every other European country, Latvia is a current example, constantly struggles to establish a governing coalition.

Under such conditions, it is not uncommon for bizarre arrangements to arise, including coalitions between the far left and the far right, as we have seen in Greece, Italy, and Slovakia.

Germany’s best hope now is that its newly emerging multiparty system will impede the progress of the AfD, by nullifying its anti-establishment appeal. The AfD will take its place on the radical right as one party among many.

Its support will remain in the 10% to 20% range, but it will not go any further than that. In fact, this has already happened in Bavaria, where the AfD garnered 10.2% of the vote this month, down from the 12.4% that it received in last year’s federal election.

Another potential silver lining to a multiparty system is that it might lead to more political engagement. In the case of Bavaria, voter participation rose to 72.4% this election cycle, up from 63.6% five years ago.

Looking ahead, Germany may now end up with rotating coalition governments comprising multiple parties.

For example, one could imagine an arrangement between the CDU/CSU, the Free Democrats, and the Greens – the so-called Jamaica coalition.

However, this scenario would likely produce political paralysis, because politicians from competing parties within the coalition would constantly undercut one another other while pandering to the popular will. Moreover, the chancellorship will always be weaker in a patchwork government.

Most likely, the fall of the CDU/CSU-SPD duopoly will undermine German hegemony in Europe, even if no other country can replace Germany in that role. At the same time, the weakening of the SPD will diminish the socialist faction in the European Parliament, where a similar eclipse of two-party rule could be in the offing.

Yet without the twin pillars of the European People’s Party and the Party of European Socialists, the parliament will be incapable of making even insignificant decisions.

As Germany and the SPD go, so goes Europe.

Slawomir Sierakowski, founder of the Krytyka Polityczna movement, is director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Warsaw and a fellow at the nRobert Bosch Academy in Berlin.

Source: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/views/analysis/the-end-of-germanys-two-party-system-is-on-the-horizon-881213.html

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Germany fears EU migration reforms will trigger refugee influx: report

Deutsche Welle — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 06:22:19 +0000

Germany’s government is concerned that proposed changes to EU asylum rules will force it to take in significantly more refugees in the future, according to Der Spiegel. The reforms would also void any caps on refugees.

Berlin fears the European Parliament’s planned amendment to the so-called Dublin Regulation could see many more refugees settling in Germany, news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

The Dublin Regulation requires people seeking asylum to register in the first EU state they enter, and for that state to assume responsibility for processing their claim. But if the proposed reform is passed, responsibility could shift from the arrival state to the EU country where any of the applicant’s relatives live.

Under such a change, “Germany would have to accommodate significantly more asylum seekers,” said an Interior Ministry memo, quoted by Der Spiegel. Any caps on refugees would be “nullified,” the memo added.

– EU asylum applications drop off drastically in 2017

– Germany accused of delaying refugee family reunifications

The European Parliament put forward its Dublin reform proposal, along with other changes to asylum rules, in November last year. The legislation has to be approved by the European Council, which is made up of member states’ government leaders, to become law.

‘An entirely different scale’

The German Interior Ministry noted that it was particularly worried by a section of the proposal that stated “the mere assertion of a family connection was enough.”

“As a result, a member state hosting many so-called ‘anchor persons’ will take over responsibility for far-reaching family associations,” it said.

“If every one of the more than 1.4 million people who have applied for asylum in Germany since 2015 becomes an anchor for newcomers arriving in the EU, then we’re dealing with (numbers) on an entirely different scale compared to family reunifications,” said Ole Schröder, a parliamentary state secretary in Germany’s Interior Ministry.

Another grand coalition? CSU chief Horst Seehofer, Chancellor Angela Merkel and SPD leader Martin Schulz

Refugee policy — particularly the right of refugees to bring their families to safety — has been a major point of discussion between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD). The two parties this week agreed on a blueprint for formal coalition negotiations, with the aim of eventually forming a new government, more than three months after national elections in September.

The proposed European Parliament regulations could stymie efforts by the CDU and its Bavarian CSU sister party to restrict family reunifications in coalition talks with the SPD.

The current government, which is also a grand coalition, had suspended family reunifications for refugees with a “limited protection status.” The new blueprint says this will be limited to 1,000 people per month, and that the number of asylum seekers taken in altogether is to be capped at between 180,000 and 220,000 per year.

Serious implications for Germany

CDU politicians Stephan Mayer and Stephan Harbarth stressed that the Dublin reform could have profound implications for Germany.

In a letter to party colleague Manfred Weber, who leads the center-right European People’s Party group in the European Parliament, they wrote, “The negotiations on the Common European Asylum System should, under no circumstances, compound the already asymmetrical burden-sharing (of refugees).”

Given fervent disagreement among EU member states on asylum rules, it’s unclear whether the reform could ultimately pass. A main thorn of contention remains the implementation of binding quotas aimed to relieve overburdened countries like Greece and Italy, and fairly distribute refugees across the bloc over the protests of other EU members, like Hungary, that do not want to take in asylum seekers under a Brussels-backed plan.

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Source: http://www.dw.com/en/germany-fears-eu-migration-reforms-will-trigger-refugee-influx-report/a-42138260

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