Germans will also decide on Europe, what do their programs say? – SME.sk

What the parties’ programs say about the Union.

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BRUSSELS, BRATISLAVA. Commissioners work regardless of their nationality, deputies are in factions according to political convictions, judges decide according to laws or the wording of the treaties. This is how it works on paper.

Although officially only the European Council of the main institutions of the European Union (EU) is the only one composed directly of representatives of individual governments, expressions such as “Germans enforce” are still used in Brussels, writes a Guardian commentator Timothy Garton Ash.

Germans with four fruits

Ash compares the European Union to a huge slot machine. “The more pineapples or oranges appear, the better the result,” he writes, adding that this “fruit” is being sent to the screen by individual member states in the elections.

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“Four fruits will be delivered by Germany this weekend, three by France next year, Italy a Spain each will contribute two, the rest will be provided by the other Member States and the European institutions, “writes Ash.

He is the only one who adds that Sunday’s German federal elections will have a major impact on the future functioning of the Union.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has recently been a key figure in all key issues in Brussels, but after sixteen years she has been in office and the name of her successor is not clear at all.

What would the Union look like if it were replaced at the head of government by its party colleague from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Armin Laschet, Social Democrat (SPD) Olaf Scholz or Green candidate Annalena Baerbock?

The election programs of the parties already indicate something, but the results and especially the subsequent coalition negotiations will say even more about it. However, it will not be just an office post.

The Free Democrats (FDP) can also play a role in forming the future coalition, and therefore also in the German decisions. Surveys suggest that the future government will consist of up to three parties, which is not common in the German political environment.

FDP it is acceptable and may be irreplaceable for both the Christian and the Social Democrats, so the Free Democrats will be able to impose conditions.

The far-right Alternative for Germany and the far-left Die Linke can only get into government in unlikely scenarios, so we do not mention their programs in this text.

The Federal Union?

With the emergence of the current broad coalition CDU and the SPD also included ambitious goals at European level, and the Union was talked about as a central part of Germany’s future. In practice, however, the government has not moved significantly in this direction, it is written in the analysis election programs of the German parties London School of Economics.

Similarly ambitious goals are no longer ambitious in the current programs of the parties to the outgoing government coalition, nor are there any clear ideas for future EU integration.

However, with the federalist ideas come the Greens and the FDP. The Greens want to use the ongoing Conference on the Future of Europe as an introductory step towards a federal European Republic, while the FDP identifies a decentralized European federation as its ultimate goal.

The difference is mainly in how many powers the current members would send to the center in the new state department and how many they would keep. However, this issue may not be a major issue in Berlin or other European capitals in the coming years.

Reform of the European institutions

The main German parties other than the SPD agree that the position of the European Parliament, the only directly elected European body, should be strengthened. They support a system of top candidates, in which each faction nominates its candidate for the post of head of the European Commission.

However, two years ago, this met with opposition from some Member State leaders, who refused to support Manfred Weber, even though his people had a majority in the European Parliament. He finally took the lead on the Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

The rule on the spitzenandidat is not part of the European treaties and is rather an informal agreement that was concluded in 2014 in order to increase the legitimacy of the head of the European executive. However, in addition to the European Parliament, this continues to be endorsed by the European Council, which includes the leaders of the Member States.

Research

SPD – 27 percent
CDU – 21 percent
Greens – 18 percent
An alternative for Germany – 11 percent
FDP – 10 percent
The links – 7 percent

Source: Ipsos, 15 and 16 September 2021

The Greens and the FDP go even further when they talk in the program about the possibility of united European candidates.

In this scenario, for example, the People’s Party would field a candidate for all Member States and voters would stand in elections to the European Parliament they did not decide at the domestic level, as is the case now, when Slovak citizens choose from among the Slovak parties, but at the European level.

Although the CDU and the SPD talk about common European suffrage, they do not specify what it should look like.

Foreign politics

All major parties support the idea of the EU moving to a qualified majority system when voting on foreign policy. Today, it is enough for one member to veto and the resolution will not be adopted.

In the spring, Hungary did so, for example, in an attempt to criticize China for violating the human rights of the Uighurs or Hong Kong.

All parties also support a common European defense, although only the FDP proposes the creation of a common army, subject to Parliament.

At the same time, all parties support the continuation of sanctions against Russia and NATO membership.

Economy and monetary union

During the pandemic last year, for the first time, the Union agreed on a joint loan to be repaid by European taxes. All states at the time emphasized that this was an extraordinary measure to help states during a pandemic and would not be repeated.

The CDU and the FDP continue to insist on this, but the SPD, for example, proposes that this instrument should lead to a real fiscal, economic and social union.

The Greens, on the other hand, are proposing European ones days for plastics and for digital companies, the CDU and FDP are pushing for harmonization of national corporate taxes, while the CDU, the Greens and the SPD are jointly lobbying for a Union tax on financial transactions.

However, the liberal FDP rejects common European taxes, and in the end its position may be crucial. If a three-party coalition is necessary, it could ask the key Ministry of Finance for its boss Christian Lindner, whose voice would be most pronounced in Brussels among the Germans.

It may be important for the eurozone who will be the chancellor, even if every German government tries to prevent the collapse of the eurozone.

As Merkel’s successor, Laschet would probably refuse to further relax the debt control measures that were introduced a decade ago during the financial crisis, but have partially backed down through the pandemic.

“Scholz would be more likely to show pragmatic flexibility to not only prevent the eurozone from collapsing, but also work better for the suffering economies of southern Europe,” Ash writes.

However, the parties generally agree that the European economy should adapt to a future that includes carbon neutrality by 2050. This means, in particular, promoting renewables and a green economy.

Pro-European character

At present, it is very difficult to predict who will be the chancellor and what coalition they will form, but according to researchers at the London School of Economics, some conclusions can be drawn.

“The election programs of the major parties show that the German political environment is characterized by a pro-European consensus,” the study said.

“The parties are fundamentally in favor of EU integration, although we see some reservations about the CDU and the FDP in relation to the euro area and fiscal policy.”