Merz weakened from day 1: Europe to pay the price, says Politico
Tuesday, May 6 was meant to be the day that changed all that, giving Germany a strong new government and restoring Europe’s mojo. Instead, Bundestag members humiliated Merz with an unprecedented insult, refusing to confirm him in office even after his coalition deal was done. It was the last thing the European Union’s centrists needed, Politico writes.
Merz eventually won enough votes to become chancellor in a second ballot, but “the political damage is done,” Katja Hoyer, an academic, said. “This is not the start of a confident, stable government, but a sign of how deep the fissures of the German center ground run.”
As noted, for the past three years, Germany has been reluctant to perform its traditional European leadership role, if not shirking it altogether.
Leading a fractious three-party coalition, Merz’s predecessor Olaf Scholz had little room to make major moves and eventually could not keep his government from crumbling. Yet German politics is now deeply divided. Without “unity” at home, Merz will struggle to drive the change he says Europe needs, from a surge in defense spending to policies that can insulate German manufacturing from Trump’s tariffs and the challenges posed by China.
In February’s election, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) placed a strong second with 21 percent of the vote behind Merz’s Christian Democrats and ahead of the Social Democrats. It will remain a menace to the new government as migration continues to dominate political debate. The German economy is moribund, too, with traditional industry on the slide.
These structural challenges facing Merz’s coalition characterize a political center ground that is losing its grip across Europe. The same could be said of Britain, for example. Or, more critically for the EU, France.
“The whole of Europe looked to Berlin today in the hope that Germany would reassert itself as an anchor of stability and a pro-European powerhouse. That hope has been dashed. With consequences way beyond our borders,” said Jana Puglierin, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
