SPOTLIGHTONGERMANYGLOBALBUSINESS.AuchinDeutschlandsinddieEuroskeptikeraufdem
Vormarsch- zuUnrecht,wieJOSCHKAFISCHER fest-
stellt.DennnurEinigkeitmachtstark. IOI!A!!"THE NEW
EURD-SCEPTICS
JOSCHKAFISCHER.aleadingfigureInGermany's
G,eenParty,wasGermany'sforeignministerandvlce
chancellorfrom 1998 to2005.Theanswerisa resoundinc"no".Europcradayisno
langerseen asthc key project in German polirics.
Rather, 20 years,lfterthefaUoftheBcrJinWall,there-
unitedGermanyisbegmningtorealizcthatitcanalso
actalone.Andso,theGermanperspectiveisthusshift-
ingintbedinx:tionofthatofFtanceandtheUK.The
EUis increasinglyseenasaframcworkforasserringna-
tionalinrerests,ratberthan3Sanaiminitself.
Thereasonsforthisrrofoundchangeareobviaus:the
reunification and the hiscorical resolution ofthe"Europe requires leadership
fram majormembers, but
Germanyis refusing to lead"
hitheaoopen"Germanquestionn;thefailureoftheEU
consrinuionandthusof[heEuropeanvision;thcinsti-
tutionalweakncssoEanexpanded27-memberEU;al1d
thcincreasingincfficiencyofEUinstitlltions.
SowillGennanyreventonationalism?AUpolitical
pJayersinBerlinrejectthis~withindignation.But
irisa strategicillusionoElargemembersrah:Srobelievc
theycandefend rheirown statuswithoutthissolid
m.tiJ:ycalledEuropc.Afterall.canGermanyreallyaf·
fordrolettheEU'scnlargemenrinroeasternEuropc
fai!?Canit affordalifc-threareningcrisisofthee-uro,
oracommonmarketendangeredbygrowingprOtec-
tlonism?
Onlyastrang,betterinrcgratedEUcanmanageall
rhis.ButrhisEUwillhavea futureonl)'ifitsmember
governmenrsandpeoplesarewillingtuinvestasub-
stanrialpartoftherrpoliticalsuccessandtheirnational
intcresrs.Andthisapplies,aboveall,tOGermany,wirh
thcEU'slargesrpopulationandeconomyand,lastbut
notleast,withitsdifficultpast. III
©ProjectSyndicatellnstituteofHumanSciences.2009.etw.geltendmachen
aufdemSpielstehen
Einstellung
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Verf3ssung
Währung
etw.gefährden
E~it~hat'sthemanerwirhGerman)'?"peo-
pieonbochsidesufthcAdamicare
asking.In Berlin,however,nobody
seernstoundersrandthcquestion.Eu-
rapeoawrequircsleadershipfromthccapiralsofirs
majormt'mhercountries.Asalways,·whcnserious
economicandfinancialm:lttersarearstake,people
looktOGcrmany,thcEU'shlrgcsreconolll)'.BurGer-
man)'isopeni)'refusingtolead.
True,irhasbeeilhitveryhardbytheeconomiccei-
sis.Buritseconornyisnoncrhelessstrongcr(hanevcraf-
terthechallengesofreunificariooaudthenecessaryre-
formufrnecountty'sL:tbourmarketandwclfaresystem.
WharamazesourlleighbollCs"ndpartners- andin-
creasinglycausesdistrust- isrhar,eversilICethche-
gillningofrheglobalmelrdownlasrSeptember,rheGer·
mangovernmenthas facused almosrexclusive1}' on
narionalaisismanagcmenr.Irhasrcbyffedanyandall
anemprsaraEuropeanapproach.
Ir'snarJusrrharBerlinfearsanyEuropeansolution
wouldbemuchmoreexpensiveforGermanyandrake
a lorlanger.ThenewformofGermanEuro-sccpricism
alsoshowsa fundamentalchange-ofattitudeamongthe
ovqwheJmingmaiorityofGermany'spoJiricalanocco-
nomicelite.Thcchangeisevidentbyaskinga single
quesriun:wouldirstillbepossibJetodaytogiveuprhe
Dmarkandimroducetheeuroasacommoncurrency?assertsth.[~'s3:11
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5(2009 BusinessSIX>l!ight 27