euro|topics - Has Angela Merkel saved Europe?

Main focus of Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Has Angela Merkel saved Europe?

On June 30, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will give up the rotating presidency of the EU. When she assumed the position six months ago, she made her ambitions clear: reinvigorate the stalled European Constitution. After the agreement on a new treaty established this weekend, the European press considers her mission accomplished and that Europe is, as a result, back on track.

Corriere della Sera - Italy

Italian economist Mario Monti, a former member of the European Commission, highlights the brilliance of how Angela Merkel orchestrated the summit in Brussels. "Two years ago, after the French and Dutch 'No' to the constitutional treaty of 2004, Europe's path seemed blocked. Again one month ago, the German president's task resembled squaring a circle: to bring together the 27 governments representing 18 state members who have already ratified the treaty, two countries who have rejected it by referendum without really understanding why and seven countries who have opted not to complete the process of ratification... . It would have been a laudable result to have all the states agree on a single method to follow. Angela Merkel went further. With typically Prussian determination and feminine patience, she succeeded in convincing her 26 companions to have the Intergovernmental Conference prepare a new text." (26/06/2007)

Times of Malta - Malta

"There is no doubt the EU summit in Brussels under-represents a personal triumph for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She is Europe's new 'Iron Lady'", writes the Maltese daily. "Few thought she would achieve that objective she set herself: to present a 'road-map' to the leaders of the 27 European countries and to coax them, away from the institutional stagnation left in 2005 by Valery Giscard D'Estaing's dead Constitution, in the direction of a 'reform treaty' ratification by 2009. ... [Merkel] also understood what was important at this stage and what was not; she did not insist on a European national anthem, still less about a flag or a motto. Instead, she brought about a charter of human rights that will be legally binding on all states, except, at this stage, Britain." (25/06/2007)

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer praises Angela Merkel's successful performance at the EU summit. "Angela Merkel can deservedly be proud of what she has achieved. It's her first true success in foreign policy. ... The Chancellor fought with great commitment, took a major risk and won. For this she deserves our respect and admiration." However, he notes that the result of the EU compromise will not be unity: "Firstly, the concept of a two-speed Europe was consolidated in Brussels for the next two decades. The states that wanted to prevent this have won a Pyrrhic victory because they will soon realise that although the EU will have a new institutional framework, it will be one which is defined by Europe's avant-garde states. Increased cooperation and the Eurozone will be the instruments for achieving this." (26/06/2007)

Le Figaro - France

Pierre Bocev, French correspondent in Berlin, praises Angela Merkel's masterful bluff. On June 22, while Warsaw was blocking negotiations in Brussels, the Chancellor threatened to negotiate without the Polish team. "The affair could have turned bad. It could have finished the international reputation of Angela Merkel, who has skipped from success to success since her rise to power in November 2005. Her contribution to the European budgetary compromise one month later. Her widely hailed first meetings with George W. Bush or Vladimir Putin. Her double victory in March 2007 to convince the twenty seven [countries of the EU] to agree to concrete objectives in the fight against global warming and, two months later at the G8 summit, to convince the American president to more or less sign-up. All this cannot be underestimated. The Chancellor would be back in line rather than continuing forward on her cloud." (25/06/2007)

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Bookmark this page at