New German Chancellor Scholz seeks his site

The new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has made his debut before his European partners at a summit marked by tensions with Russia, the rebound in the COVID-19 coronavirus and differences in energy matters, crises inherited from his predecessor, Angela Merkel, a reference during the last 16 years in the European Union (EU).

A Scholz, who does not lack experience in EU meetings since he already learned about its mechanisms as Minister of Finance with Merkel, now awaits a definition of his role as leader of the main European power, before which the rest of the community partners do not they hide their anticipation.

“It was a good and important experience”, Scholz summed up laconically in relation to the Summit this Thursday when he gave an account, together with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, of what was approached and decided by the 27.

In this way, the Chancellor dispatched the corresponding question about what he thought of his debut as the leader of his country in a European Council, a way of dealing with questions from the press that in German media is linked to a certain inclination of Scholz – some dare from talking about bragging – to avoiding direct responses.

Promise that Germany will build bridges

The new chancellor arrived in Brussels, having previously declared in Berlin before the Bundestag his intention to make Germany not be on the sidelines in European affairs, but rather be a leader that builds “bridges”, In the vein of its predecessors.

A Scholz he was preceded by a chancellor Merkel whose mediation saved numerous European Councils, hence, from this week onwards, not only their statements, but also their gestures and silences will be looked at very carefully.

“It has to show how far Angela Merkel’s policy will continue: in her pragmatic, objective and reserved manner, she has contributed a lot to building consensus in the EU.“Says the political scientist Tanja Börzel, Director of the Center for European Integration of the Free University of Berlin.

“Due to his nature, he certainly has the potential to take on his role.“Adds Börzel, who appreciates lines of commitment that the Chancellor may already be willing to assume, for example in the field of the future of fiscal discipline within the EU after the pandemic.

“I imagine you are campaigning for certain government expenditures (eg investments in climate protection, digital transformation, etc.) to be ignored; that could be a compromise line between the four ‘frugal’ (Holland, Sweden, Denmark and Austria), on the one hand, and countries like Italy, Spain and France on the other” Add.

Scholz has already advanced that he is in favor of expanding policies in which the principle of unanimous decision-making should be abandoned, which will complicate agreements, for example with France, especially in areas such as foreign and security policy, although also with eurosceptics Poland and Hungary.

The majority decision is a taboo that complicates progress in the EU, its absence explains the slowness of the united response of the 27, fuels criticism from Eurosceptics but faces historical resistance that is difficult to overcome.

Börzel appreciates however that, “If there is political will in the federal government, the strengthened Common Foreign and Security Policy instrument offers the possibility of moving forward without those holding back”.

“It will take time, but in the end Germany is the crucial actor in the European Council without whose agreement nothing moves in Europe. So Scholz very soon – like Merkel – will be a pledge maker.”Says Jacob Kirkegaard, an expert on European affairs at the German Marshall Fund (GMF).

The advantage of having created a coalition agreement

The fact that the Social Democratic chancellor presides over a coalition government in Germany with liberals and greens gives him, according to Kirkegaard, a position “in the center of politics, which is a good place from which to form agreements ”.

“It will take a little time and the uncertainty of the elections in France will have to pass, but I think that during 2022 she will put herself in Merkel’s shoes as the architect of commitments in fiscal matters and that she will be more determined in relation to respect for the state. of law and regarding the climate that she”, Prevé Kirkegaard.

It remains to be seen, however, how the Chancellor – a pragmatic centrist within his party, born in northwest Germany and former mayor of Hamburg – articulates relations with his eastern partners and with Russia, a geographical area in which Merkel started with advantage for its life experience and from which the urgent internal and external challenges to which the EU must respond if it wants to survive and be relevant come.