One year in, and the Bundesregierung is already on the ropes. According to the latest poll for ARD, only 13% of Germans are satisfied with the coalition of Christian and Social Democrats.
And although he was never exactly a crowd-pleaser, a 16% approval rating for Friedrich Merz is an all-time low for a Bundeskanzler.
As the German proverb goes: “Ein Unglück kommt selten allein” – a misfortune rarely comes solo. In Merz’s case, the additional calamity goes by the name of Angela Merkel, his nemesis, who, from his point of view, ended his political career 20 years ago. Now it seems she’s back to haunt him.
Naturally, that’s not how Merkel would describe it. At 71, she is doing the rounds: conferences, award ceremonies, podcasts, interviews and a book tour. Wherever she appears, she is greeted with respect, admiration even, and scarcely a trace of hard talk about her more controversial decisions.
Quite the contrast to the man occupying the office she held for 16 years. And at 70, Merz must hate her unsolicited advice.
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On climate policy, she remains unyielding. The decisions taken during her chancellorship must, she insists, be “held to as far as possible.” Industry will adapt, as it always has. “I still remember when the catalytic converter was introduced,” she told the re:publica conference in Berlin. “There was an outcry then, too – none of it would work.” It did work, of course. “And when business knows it has to manage, then it manages.” Germany was “often among the best in the world in that respect.”
That is one way of looking at it. Another is that, thanks to EU policy and Germany’s punishingly high energy costs – not least due to the nuclear exit Merkel herself backed – companies are shutting factories, shedding jobs or relocating abroad.
Desperate to save tens of thousands of jobs in the car industry, the government is pressing Brussels for further exemptions to the fossil fuel phase-out.
So one can imagine the delight in Berlin when Merkel, fresh from receiving the European Order of Merit in Strasbourg, once again stressed how important it was to persuade the public about climate measures. At least she conceded “how difficult that is”. Small mercies.
She is equally forthcoming on Ukraine. While it is “absolutely right” to support Ukraine militarily, Merkel regrets that “Europe is not deploying its diplomatic potential sufficiently.” It is “not sufficient” for only Donald Trump to maintain contact with Russia.
Little wonder the Financial Times reported that EU governments had discussed whether Merkel or former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi might represent the bloc in possible negotiations with Vlad.
When asked about the general idea of a special envoy, however, Merkel practically snorted. During the Minsk talks, she recalled, she had always negotiated directly with Putin. Her message was about as subtle as a German tank battalion: “You have to take that into your own hands.”
Merz, of course, has his hands full searching for the secret formula of competent government, which he plainly has not yet found, given that the AfD leads comfortably in several polls.
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Here, too, Merkel gently intervenes: “It is very important not to always define oneself indirectly through the AfD.” The real question should be: “What is actually our plan for this country?” Entirely true. Also entirely unhelpful for a CDU/CSU-SPD coalition that’s still struggling to agree on whether Germany needs tax cuts, welfare cuts, more spending, less spending or all of the above.
While his own camp complains that Merz is allowing himself to be rolled over by the Social Democrats, Merkel advises him to approach them with “a generous heart.” Compromise, she notes, “is what makes diversity possible and capable of commanding a majority.”
A majority, one might point out, that has evaporated in the polls. Thanks to a far right party once revived by the refugee crisis and Merkel’s handling of it.
Meanwhile, Merkel reports that retirement suits her splendidly. Her gardening efforts have been less triumphant. “They’re not quite what I sometimes imagine,” she admits in FOCUS magazine. Some things flourish, others do not. “I console myself with the thought that it also depends on the soil conditions.”
As for vices? The occasional craving for Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) at 10pm. One can suspect Merz’s craving is for Merkel to stay in her garden – and out of the headlines.
