It was by no means obvious but the clear stance of the German Finance Minister, Wolfang Schaeuble, against the appeal to Luxembourg by the Constitutional Court on Qe and in defense of the monetary policy of the ECB and Mario Draghi leaves no room for doubt and reveals that on that Germany is split but that the consensus gathered by Eurotower is stronger than before.
From the hawks that lurk in the Constitutional Court and often also in the Bundesbank (although in recent months the German bank has lowered its sights, perhaps to prepare the way for Governor Weidman for the after Draghi in 2019) the German government clearly distances itself and Schaeuble's softer line in the middle of the election campaign signals that Chancellor Angela Merkel's leadership is getting stronger.
It is too early to say whether this will launch a new phase of European politics based on the Merkel-Macron axis which Spain and Italy could join (if a reforming government emerges from the next elections) but the conditions are all there. And there are also because Europe definitively closes the dispute on Qe between the German Court and the ECB, as the position taken by the European Commission itself yesterday let us understand.
