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Patchwork in Germany

Considering that governance in Germany has been in suspended animation for the past four months, last Wednesday’s forward movement in…

Patchwork in Germany

Angela Merkel (Photo: AFP)

Considering that governance in Germany has been in suspended animation for the past four months, last Wednesday’s forward movement in Berlin will be welcomed both within the country and in Europe in the wider canvas. Not least because Brexit and the migrants’ issue are the major challenges confronting the European Union and crucially so in view of Angela Merkel’s decidedly humane attitude towards the homeless from the Arab world and North Africa.

Across the continent, xenophobic nationalism has militated against a consensus on the mass migration. Indeed, the absence of a government in Germany had complicated matters, and this reality reinforces the significance of the “grand coalition” deal between Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, led by Martin Schulz. The coalition has been defined by Germany’s political class as “something close to business as usual” and greeted with a sense of relief, if not celebration quite yet. Collaboration with Mrs Merkel has denuded the German centre-left of its dynamism and identity. Mr Schulz is standing down as party leader to become foreign minister and may thus play a pivotal role in continental geopolitics.

The party will also be in control of finance. For the moment, the Chancellor has allotted two key portfolios to her coalition partner. Misgivings that the SPD membership could reject the deal are not wholly unfounded. Furthermore, unmistakable is the sense of fatigue in Germany about Mrs Merkel’s 12-year incumbency as Chancellor. The growth of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) as a potentially potent force is testament to the sweeping nationalist sentiment on either side of the Channel. Markedly, the AfD may now be the largest opposition party in the Bundestag, an “elevation” that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. There is an inherent fragility within the patchwork quilt or coalition of convenience, if you will.

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A government in Germany ought to ~ at any rate theoretically ~ “unlock” the single currency and lead to wider EU reforms. The underpinning might be different for Belgium, Germany, and France. There is uncertainty too over the balance of power in Europe, which could be upset by the elections in Italy ~ the third largest eurozone economy ~ on 4 March. The country’s politics and finances have been in a mess, and the growth figures are unlikely to benefit the centre-left coalition of Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

To that can be added the challenge posed by the ultra-nationalists. Italy’s position as the landing point for those crossing the Mediterranean has made confusion worse confounded than elsewhere in Europe. For the moment, the coalition agreement should allow Germany to resume its pivotal role in international affairs and put an end to questions about how long Mrs Merkel will stay in her job. The saving grace must be that the country is poised to have a government… eventually.

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