John Downing: Angela's 'long goodbye' will add to woes facing the EU

German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

John Downing

The 64-year-old low-key German woman has been a household name across the world for the past 13 years. Now she wants to begin to exit the political stage, starting with quitting her party's chair.

The career of the first woman to lead the German government has been truly remarkable. When she first became Chancellor of Germany in 2005, George W Bush was US president, Jacques Chirac was president of France, Tony Blair was UK prime minister and Bertie Ahern was the Taoiseach here.