Germany

European economy 10th October 2021

The EU After The German Elections: More Realpolitik?

European Views | The way the EU appears on the world stage, where it all too often seems weak, uncoordinated and overly moralising in its approach to world affairs. Germany’s long-time chancellor Merkel has played a key role in this. Throughout 16 years, Berlin has helped transform the EU into an ineffective paper tiger that styles itself as a superpower, yet that is frequently proving unable to deal effectively with hard geopolitical questions – from securing its borders to dealing with China. What is really needed is a new approach to EU foreign policy, especially at a time when German voters’ interest in foreign policy and EU affairs is at its lowest in years.

European economy 30th September 2021

Berlin Votes In Favour Of “Housing Municipalisation”

Citizens in Germany’s capital, Berlin, voted at the weekend to approve an initiative that would require the expropriation of 240,000 homes from large owners, i.e. companies with more than 3,000 flats. The non-binding referendum on the “municipalisation of housing” resulted in 57 per cent in favour of the measure and 38 per cent against. In an attempt to give tenants back the security that their homes will remain in the low-cost segment, the Berlin city council, through the municipal companies Degewo, Howoge and Berlinovo, recently agreed to buy 14,750 flats from Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnwen.

Today’s German election is likely to be one of the most open contests in decades

Relevant News Item 26th September 2021

Germany After Merkel: What’s Next?

Azad Zangana (Schroders) | Today’s is a major milestone election for Germany, and many will be keeping a close eye on the outcome. In any case, though we should see the results soon, negotiations to form the next coalition are likely to take several months given the potential wide range of combinations on offer. The new chancellor may not be inaugurated before 2022.

European politics 21st September 2021

German Election Guide

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Germans elect a new Bundestag on Sunday, which will elect Angela Merkel’s successor. It is the first time since 1983 that a sitting chancellor isn’t seeking reelection. If the polls are right, Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats will lose power to the center-left Social Democrats for the first time since 2005. Here is everything you need to know. Bottom lines The Social Democrats (SPD) are projected…

European economy 4th September 2021

Germany At The End Of The Merkel Era: The Next Coalition To Inherit An Economy Not Fully Recovered

Bruno Cavalier (ODDO BHF) | In a few weeks’ time, Angela Merkel will cease to be Chancellor, a position she has held since 2005. Polls show that the three main contenders to succeed her are tied. Despite Germany’s good performance in the first Covid-19 wave, successive waves of contagions brought new restrictions in early 2021, delaying the recovery. Also, Germany clearly suffers from its overexposure to the automotive industry, which is 25 points below normal.

European politics 1st September 2021

Laschet Is Dragging Germany’s Christian Democrats Down

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | It’s too soon to tell you I told you so. The German election is still a month away. But it is starting to look like the ruling Christian Democrats made a mistake nominating Armin Laschet, the prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, for the chancellorship. Laschet would succeed Angela Merkel, who is not seeking a fifth term after sixteen years in power. I argued in December…

Interviews 19th April 2021

“The Rapid Recuperation In World Trade Has Already Enabled Industry to Almost Completely Recover”

Lidia Conde (Francfort) | Christoph Schmidt, chairman of the Franco-German economic think tank for the past year – when he stepped down as chairman of the council of wise men advising the Berlin government – makes no secret of his concerns: “Both the European Green Deal and the Next Generation EU nourish the hope that Europe will emerge stronger from this crisis in the end. But between the EU’s ambitious plans and the final success, the final results, there is a long way to go. And on that road, member states will have to undertake the structural reforms that will increase their long-term growth potential and show their readiness to return to compliance with the stability and growth pact, with the debt rules”.

Cities are leading refugee integration efforts

European politics 10th April 2021

Germany’s Refugees Face a Future Without Angela Merkel

K iran Bowry | In 2015, the European refugee crisis awoke Germans from a long and comforting slumber that Angela Merkel had lulled them into with her political style. The term “asymmetric demobilization” came to be known as a way of describing the German chancellor’s shrewd strategy of sitting on the fence and thereby winning elections. Merkel weakened her political competitors by avoiding controversial issues and, in doing so, choking off debate. Simultaneously, she adopted popular policy stances of her opponents and demobilized their potential voters.

European politics 16th March 2021

Germany’s Handling Of The Pandemic: A Model Of Incompetence?

Hans-George Betz (Via Fair Observer) | There is an unwritten rule in politics: If you are incompetent, at least you should not be corrupt. It seems nobody ever informed the German Christian Democrats that this was the way of things. How else to explain why Christian Democratic MPs thought it was perfectly fine to take advantage of Germany’s COVID-19 crisis to line their own pockets? In German, we have a word, “Raffzahn,” to refer to somebody who cannot get enough, never satisfied with what they have. In the concrete case, a member of the German Bundestag from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) pocketed €250,000 ($298,000) in commissions for brokering a deal involving the procurement of FFP2 face masks by the federal and the state governments.

European politics 19th January 2021

Angela Merkel, A Chancellor Difficult To Replace

Lidia Conde | Over the weekend in Germany, the CDU elected Angela Merkel’s replacement as head of the party. They bet on continuity with the election of the moderate Armin Laschet. For the first time in Germany’s history, the person who occupies the chancellor’s office is leaving voluntarily. And she does so with the respect and recognition of her opponents and successors, both in the CDU and in the government.

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