Why Merkel is the only true European leader

 

Le Monde made an interesting point in an editorial yesterday that Angela Merkel is showing more leadership on the European Constitution than either Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal, both of whom have been using, or rather abusing, the  European debate for their own selfish purposes.

While I am no friend of Germany’s Grand Coalition, I must confess that Merkel is probably the only true Europe leader we have at the moment. Given the electoral cycles, with Chirac and Blair almost certain to leave office this year, it should not be surprising that the leadership role would fall to a new German chancellor. But the more salient point is that Merkel will still be the most important European leader in one year’s time. She is one of the most determined politicians I have met, more so than Gordon Brown and Sarkozy, let alone Royal, who does not appear to know what she wants except to become president. I fear the same is going to be the case with Brown whose insatiable appetite to become prime minister will probably be greater than his appetite for leadership, both in Europe and on the world stage. Brown is just not that kind of a guy. The same is true of Sarkozy. When he was finance minister, he had an opportunity to show leadership, both in terms of driving domestic reforms, and on the European stage. All one remembers are his pathetic press conferences.

Merkel by contrast is not a good speaker. Her performance in front of the European Parliament last week was a wooden. The applause was relatively brief. In terms of rhetoric and performance this is about as good as it will ever get. But during the last week, she went on French TV to defend the central bank against French politicians. She tied the success of the German EU presidency to the Constitution, and later she told Putin that his decision not to consult with Europeans before cutting off oil supplies to Belarus was unacceptable, and that the Europeans will now act to form to a joint energy policy. Not bad for a European leader.

This is main reason why I have become more confident about the European constitution (see also my FT column today). There is now some political leadership in support of it. That was not the case when Chirac and Blair called for a referendum, and when Schroder and Berlusconi were in charge in Berlin and Rome. Things are looking up.

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