Who expected a course correction after that voting in Germany will be disappointed. The newly re-elected chancellor Angela Merkel was clear: the German positions in Brussels "will not change". On the contrary, in Europe “we must do the same things that we already did a few years ago to get out of the crisis definitively – continued Merkel -. Germany ten years ago was the sick man of Europe but, thanks to the reforms, we have become an anchor of stability. What we did, others can do too. It is a process that aims to increase the competitiveness and confidence of foreign investors in our countries".
In short, after yesterday's landslide victory which delivered 41,5% of the votes to her Cdu-Csu, Merkel assures that in and around Brussels she will behave “as always. Europe is a collection of countries, some stronger, some less, but it can only work if it manages to make itself heard as a single voice. Anyone who knows me knows that I always try to find a compromise and to understand the position of others".
As for the need to insist more on growth, “I have made a commitment within the European budget for the next seven years to obtain greater investments against youth unemployment – the chancellor recalled again -. Now there are more flexible instruments available, just think of the structural funds, for example, and of countries like Italy, which have managed to improve the situation of net contributions with Europe. I confirm this course: in Europe we continue to invest and Germany will pay much more within the framework of this budget than in the last one”.
Berlin's European policy is one of the factors that have most contributed to determining the immense popularity Merkel enjoys at home. The choice not to change was therefore predictable. It may seem like a paradox, but at the moment the most uncertain front for the chancellor is the internal one. The demonstrations of enthusiasm for the electoral triumph are wasted, yet Frau Merkel's coalition cannot govern alone. It came close, but that's not enough: Cdu and Csu won 311 seats, coming just five lengths away from the absolute majority. Not bad, it will be said, a small alliance will suffice. However, Frau Merkel's traditional traveling companions, the liberals of the FDP, stopped at 4,8%, only two tenths below the threshold of 5%, clamorously remaining outside the Bundestag.
The chancellor has already said she is willing to negotiate for a replica of the grand coalition that governed the country from 2005 to 2009. The alliance with the social democrats of the SPD (who stopped at 25,7% of the preferences) is not however the only way forward. Numbers in hand, Merkel could also govern with the support of the Greens alone. Which, surprisingly – strong by a paltry 8,3% – are now able to shift the balance in the Bundestag.
