Brussels, 23/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - Angela Merkel is “a woman of fine sense, energy and pragmatism; clearly a woman committed to European ideals. … These are the qualities, the energy, the commitment that we need, that Europe needs”. It was in these flattering terms, on Monday 23, that Internal Market and Financial Services Commissioner Michel Barnier hailed the resounding victory of the German chancellor the previous day. Her party, the CDU, took a never-before-seen total of 41.5% of votes cast (according to provisional results), though it failed to win an absolute majority in the Bundestag. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso was less effusive on Sunday evening, sending Merkel his warmest congratulations on her remarkable victory, a tweet from Commission spokesperson Koen Doens revealed. On a visit to New York, Barroso did not feel it appropriate to comment further, preferring to wait until a government has been formed, his staff said. Talks on forming a government were on-going on Monday. Commissioner Viviane Reding also sent a tweet, joining with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in congratulating the chancellor. Van Rompuy is pleased to be able to continue working closely with Merkel and said that her victory would help build a Europe of peace and economic prosperity.
Barnier, very forthright and already with an eye on the European elections, said he was sure of the chancellor's commitment to banking union plans, recalling that “it was she who, on 29 June 2012, asked the European Council to put banking union in place”. Germany has once again “supported the regulation agenda that I put forward”, he added. “There may very well be criticism and reservations but who doesn't have any? I've also heard criticism in London and Paris”, stated Barnier, also praising the famous German model, in particular its “social dialogue, culture of financial stability, support for local and family entrepreneurship that some countries might follow”.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz hailed this “remarkable success for Angela Merkel”. “The whole of Europe is following with great interest the next steps in the formation of a government in this member state. … The main challenges that the new German government and the European Parliament will have to meet together include tackling the youth unemployment that is a threat to our democratic and social system, and putting in place a programme of smart investment to help generate the growth needed to consolidate our budgets. In addition, we have to finalise banking union and put the financial transactions tax into operation without delay”;
Joseph Daul, leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, of which Merkel's CDU is a member, said that the German electorate had “clearly voted for a strong Europe and for a more closely integrated eurozone, based on competitiveness and economic reform”. The leader of the party, Wilfried Martens, argued that the role of Chancellor Merkel, “a strong leader throughout the whole crisis”, will be “crucial” in the pursuit of economic recovery, especially with the approach of the European elections.
The French Socialists in the European Parliament acknowledged the “indisputable legitimacy” conferred by the German electorate on Chancellor Merkel. “Just as Germany took note of the election of François Hollande and amended its European policy, so we will have to be aware of the message that was sent out yesterday”, they said. They nonetheless warned Germany over the increase in “inequality” and the “economic and social divide between the North and the South of Europe” which “can be seen even within Germany, as demonstrated by the results of Die Linke in the eastern Länder. Angela Merkel must also take account of that: the increase in inequality, both inside Germany and within Europe, carries the seeds of growth for the extremes”. The chancellor, “now freed from electoral issues, must also take forward issues such as banking union in Europe, and the governance of the eurozone in particular”, they stated. They said that the result of the German anti-Europe party, Alternative for Germany, which failed to break through the 5% barrier that would have seen it represented in parliament, is “good news”.
“These populist movements, left or right and generally anti-European, feed off the crisis, the difficulties and people's anger, and the right response …is growth, jobs, the recovery of Europe and competitiveness”, argued Barnier, expressing the view that such tendencies are still small-scale in Germany, certainly compared with France. “In these populist movements, there is misunderstanding that there is too much bureaucracy, that too much takes place in Brussels”, he added. “These are issues to be addressed next year”, he said (our translation throughout). (SP/transl.fl)