Paris and Brussels: the first official visits of the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Friday 10 December, confirm the message. His coalition government of the SPD’s Social Democrats, the Greens, and the FDP’s Liberals will be resolutely pro-European, building on the Franco-German partnership.
This meeting in Paris with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, two days after his official election, follows on from the actions of previous German chancellors. The governing agreement that now binds the three parties of the so-called ‘tricolour’ coalition nevertheless marks micro-breaks on major European issues, particularly with regard to respect for the Rule of law and the completion of the banking union.
More federalism
To begin with, the coalition has a decidedly federalist vision of the European Union that will emerge from the Conference on the Future of Europe. In particular, it would like to give the European Parliament a right of initiative, an idea also advocated recently by Emmanuel Macron. Taking up a principle dear to the Greens, it also supports the introduction of transnational lists in the European elections and a compulsory system of leading candidates (‘Spitzenkandidaten’).
These ambitions do not “always meet with consensus in Germany”, notes economist Gabriel Felbermayr in an opinion editorial, particularly when it comes to strengthening the powers of Parliament in fiscal matters.
Less German abstention
The coalition is trying to put its own house in order before convincing France to move to qualified majority voting on foreign policy issues, as it envisages. The arrival of a three-party coalition could have reinforced the “German vote”, the abstention of Berlin linked to the internal disagreements between the SPD and the CDU/CSU within the previous government.
The coalition therefore promises in its agreement to “take a clear and timely position with regard to the European Commission’s plans, thanks to stricter coordination”. This upstream work will be necessary in particular to reconcile the positions of the Liberal Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, an ardent defender of fiscal orthodoxy, and the Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, who is in favour of a dynamic investment policy.
Stability and Growth Pact has “proven its flexibility”
These contradictions have been addressed in the agreement, which maintains support for the current Stability and Growth Pact, since, according to the coalition, it has “proven its flexibility” and it is possible on this basis to guarantee “growth, maintain debt sustainability and ensure sustainable and climate-friendly investments”.
“The Liberals were clearly opposed to a transfer union”, summarises Sven Giegold, who has just left the European Parliament to become Secretary of State to Robert Habeck. However, says the man who was one of the coalition’s main negotiators on financial issues, the Greens “do not want to sign a blank cheque either. What we want is to promote investment within the current framework”.
In this context, the text underlines that the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan is “an instrument limited in both time and money”, while leaving the door open to an “evolution” of the fiscal rules.
A small step towards the reform projects advocated in Paris, Rome and Madrid.
A step towards the completion of the Banking Union
Furthermore, the new government intends to push for the creation of a European reinsurance for national deposit guarantee schemes, a major step towards the completion of the Banking Union in the euro area.
Germany has been holding back for the past 10 years, particularly in order to protect its savings banks and cooperative banks that finance the local network of German SMEs. Berlin’s conditions are, however, detailed, and it is not certain that Paris will have the time to unravel the mess under the French Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2022, with the approach of French elections.
Between continuity and firmness on human rights
Olaf Scholz announced it himself: “German foreign policy is a policy of continuity”.
His new foreign minister, Greens co-chair Annalena Baerbock, has in the past indicated that she wants a tougher stance on Beijing. However, the new government has not committed itself to following the US boycott of the Winter Olympics in protest against the situation of the Uighur minorities. The Greens also call for a tougher stance on Moscow and say that any new threats from Russia in Ukraine are “unacceptable”.
Within the European Union itself, the new German government intends to encourage the European Commission to “use and enforce the existing instruments of the rule of law more consistently and in a timely manner”.
Without explicitly mentioning Poland or Hungary, the coalition agreement states that Germany hopes that “in future, the rights arising from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights will be able to be invoked before the EU Court of Justice, even when a Member State acts within the scope of its national law”.
After Paris, Chancellor Scholz will travel to Brussels, where he will meet representatives of the EU institutions. (Original version in French by Nathalie Steiwer)