The rise of the far right, the revival of the Liberals and the collapse of the Social Democrats were commented on at length at European level on Monday 25 September, the day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat party came out victorious in the German general elections, returning her to power for the fourth time in a row.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker warmly congratulated Merkel in person and in a letter. He stressed that in light of current global challenges, Europe needs a solid German government more than ever to actively shape the future of our continent. He trusts that forthcoming negotiations to put together a government in Germany will lead to a programme that will make a contribution to this.
The Christian Democrat party CDU/CSU won 33% of the votes, a considerable drop since its showing in 2013. With 20.5% of the votes, the Social Democrat party SPD of the former president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, achieved its worst result in post-war history. A member of the outgoing government coalition, he has announced his intention to join the opposition. The far right party AfD gained 12.6% of the votes and makes its Bundestag debut, whilst the Liberal FDP party makes a comeback, with 10.7%. The far left Die Linke party gained 9.2% and the environmental party Grüne 8.9%.
At the European Parliament, President Antonio Tajani tweeted that Germany would remain committed to the European idea. The leader of the EPP Group, Manfred Weber of Bavaria, said that the main conclusion to be drawn from these elections was that Merkel remains at the helm and will shape European policy over the coming years. With the Chancellor's victory, the political conditions will finally be met to move forward all European work that has been suspended, he told the French daily newspaper l' Opinion, referring in particular to the reform of eurozone governance.
On this dossier, it will not be a simple matter for the CDU/CSU to find an agreement on the broad outlines of this reform if parties such as FDP and Grüne are part of the future coalition government. The FDP, which is hostile to a 'transfer union', is calling for the post of finance minister if it enters government.
On behalf of the S&D Group, Italy's Gianni Pittella welcomes the incipient new stage in the SPD's history with its move to the opposition, echoing what happened in the European Parliament in early 2017. On the rise of the far right, Jens Geier said that this was more likely a reaction to the migration crisis than the expression of any great Euroscepticism on the part of the German populace.
For the Liberals, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt welcomed the return of the German Liberals to the Bundestag and called for the formation of a pro-European German government that will militate in favour of the reforms Europe needs.
The chair of the GUE/NGL Group, Gabriele Zimmer, flagged up the existence of socio-economic divides within German society. She called for social reform of the eurozone and for a massive investment plan to be launched. She argued that those who thought that Emmanuel Macron's victory in France spelt victory over the far right in Europe had mistaken the matter.
The representative of the German Greens at the European Parliament, Sven Giegold, said that there was still a long way to go to a coalition government in Jamaican colours (CDU/CSU, FDP, Grüne). He pinned his hopes on the proposals to reform the eurozone to be made by Macron at the Sorbonne this Tuesday. In the framework of exploratory discussions with the CDU/CSU and the FDP, the stances on Macron's proposals will be crucial, he said, joining Macron's calls for a more social and democratic Europe. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)