Berlin's EU presidency: no rabbits in German hat.

AuthorRinke, Andreas
PositionEuropean Institutions

"The success of a presidency is decided long before your own term starts," explains an official with extensive experience in European Union affairs. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken this view to heart in the months that she has been preparing for her first turn in the EU's rotating presidency starting in January. On the one hand, she has deliberately sought to play down expectations about how much can be accomplished in Germany's six months in the job. And on the other hand, German diplomacy has been busily laying the groundwork for some tangible achievements under German leadership.

This approach is obviously colored by the often-exaggerated sense of anticipation that started building up last spring about the German presidency and its potential to change conditions in Europe. A bleak mood reigned in Europe (then as now), stemming from the deadlock over the EU constitution and fuelled by what seems to be general growing antipathy toward the EU itself. Suddenly, Germany--and Merkel--started being touted as the savior capable of bringing solutions to all these problems. One reason for the high expectations was the impressive start of Merkel's chancellorship, a performance offering a sharp contrast to the often-devastating political situation in neighboring major European countries. For example, only weeks after she came to power in October 2005 Merkel emerged as one of the key players in finding a compromise on the EU financial package in December. Suddenly, the dark sky over Europe seemed to lighten at least a bit, and she got credit for part of that change.

At first, top officials in Berlin were flattered. But their mood changed as more and more requests came in for action to solve major problems on Germany's watch. By the time of the EU summit in Brussels in June 2006, they were relieved by the cautious final statements, which were seen by many Europeans as a downright failure. gat outcome cleared the path for a more realistic perspective, at least on the question of the EU constitution. The timeframe for a solution now extends far beyond the end of the German term in June 2007.

Merkel herself has prepared and positioned herself carefully for her entry onto the European stage. As the opposition leader and chief of the Christian Democratic party (CDU), she regularly met with other conservatives from other EU countries. And she carefully positioned herself in the center--between France and Great Britain, between big and small EU countries. Coming from East Germany she was--and still is--considered to be much more sensitive to eastern European concerns--even though it was the previous chancellor, Social Democrat Gerhard Schroder, who actually drove the entry of the eight Eastern European democracies into the EU (against initial French opposition).

So Merkel looks like the ideal power broker. In international and European politics, strength is measured in relative terms, and all her major partners seem to be weak at the moment: Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair are lame ducks, so they cannot afford to support controversial initiatives on the European level. Poland under the nationalistic Kacynski twins (President Lech Kacynski and Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kacynski) seems to be moving into isolation even within...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT