The Daily Populous Tuesday December 3rd, 2024 morning edition
Authored by politico.eu and submitted by Alarmed_Mistake_9999

Merz and his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) appear set to assume power within months following the November collapse of Germany’s left-leaning three-party coalition. With an early election slated for Feb. 23, Germany’s conservatives are far ahead in the polls on 32 percent support.

That puts Merz, a 69-year-old corporate lawyer by trade, on the cusp of fulfilling his longtime dream of becoming chancellor. He could scarcely have imagined, however, that his dream would come true at a time of such peril for Europe — and for Germany in particular.

The country is facing vexing economic and political woes while the EU confronts its own array of difficulties — among them the threat of a new debt crisis emanating from France; a rising far right; Russian sabotage and influence operations; and an escalating war in Ukraine. With Germany’s economic engine sputtering and its politics increasingly fractured by the rise of radical parties, Berlin simply lacks the strength to lead Europe out of the morass.

The problem for Merz is that despite his ambition and the likelihood of a clear governing mandate, Germany is now uniquely vulnerable to global events beyond the immediate control of any national leader.

For decades, the country’s security and prosperity have relied on three pillars: a U.S. defense guarantee; virtually unfettered international trade, allowing its export-oriented economy to flourish; and cheap energy from Russia to bolster German industry.

As Merz prepares to take up the reins and vows to lead Germany in a fundamentally new direction, the country lacks a sweeping vision to replace those outmoded pillars.

UnluckyPossible542 on December 3rd, 2024 at 00:47 UTC »

Germany is collapsing as a manufacturing nation due to lack of labour, the signing of free trade agreements with competitor nations and the end of cheap Russian gas.

Germany built its economy on a three legged stool:

The first leg was guest workers. German manufacturing was carried out by conscientious post war Germans, and with Turkish “Gastarbieter” - guest workers doing that manual lifting.

Things changed after unification and new EU rules, especially the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999, when visas, asylum, immigration and other policies relating to the free movement of all persons, including third-country nationals, were moved from the JHA pillar to Title IV of the EC Treaty (EC Treaty, Arts. 61-69), and hence from an intergovernmental approach to policy-making to a common approach.

The other big change was in attitudes within Germany. Young degree holding Germans didn’t want to bolt wheels onto BMWs. They wanted to wear suits.

This shaky leg explains why Merkel was keep to allow so many refugees into Germany in 2015. Sadly she quickly found out that they don’t want to do manual work either.

The second leg was the EU captive market. With free trade across borders Germany became the major manufacturing nation for the EU. Tariffs on imported goods allowed Germany to make higher profits.

But that captive market has fallen away because the EU is now signing free trade agreements with other manufacturing nations. A free trade agreement with Korea came into force in 2015. An economic partnership agreement was signed with Japan in 2019. A free trade agreement with China is underway.

This will open the door for foreign manufacturing and end Germanys captive market.

The third leg is the cheapest energy in the world - Russian gas. In 2019 Germany was paying USD4 per unit of natural gas compared to Japan who were paying USD8.40 per unit. This is precisely why Germany is a major chemical and fertiliser manufacturer and Japan isn’t.

All that just changed forever.

Sad_Lawfulness1266 on December 2nd, 2024 at 21:35 UTC »

Germany should just take stronger positions, improve the relationships with France (and maybe Italy), deal with China and contain Trump exuberance. Then and only then, maybe, it should give a damn about Russia. As for the natural resources there are plenty. Willing to use them rather than buy them probably little. The car industry must wake up, we need a serious and adult discussion there. The world has changed and keep producing the same car over and over again has become anachronistic, prise-wise and type-wise.

Edit: forgot to say that Merz can do it. But he needs to be willing to make unpopular decisions, such as energy policies or welfare subsidies. Also increasing the military spending. This is all very difficult, I’ll admit it. We need a strong man. He could very be the one but he has to commit to it

Alarmed_Mistake_9999 on December 2nd, 2024 at 17:47 UTC »

Submission Statement: Friedrich Merz, Germany's likely conservative next chancellor, is campaigning to Make Germany Great Again by promising an economic revival and restoring Germany's tarnished international credibility. However, many factors make this goal vanishingly unlikely.

In summary, Merz has yet to realize that Germany is a bystander in a world where the big three superpowers are led by strongmen also determined to make their nations great again- often at Germany's expense. When it comes to real hard power, Germany cannot compete with the superpowers.

Both Xi and Trump are determined to destroy the German auto industry, Putin is determined to make Germany a Russian satellite, the Bundeswehr is a joke, and Germany has no natural resources. The odds for a German revival are slim. Europe as a whole risks being a passenger in a world controlled by Trump, Xi, and Putin.