Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Merkel suffers major defeat in German state vote

  • The result comes after Greek voters said No to austerity one week ago (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered a bitter defeat in a key regional election Sunday (13 May), in a result likely to make it more difficult for Berlin to continue to push austerity-only measures at the EU level.

Preliminary results for the parliamentary election in North Rhine Westphalia - the country's most populous state - showed that the centre-right CDU received 26.3 percent of the votes, roundly beaten by the Social Democrats who scooped 39.1 percent.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The Green Party picked up 11.4 percent of the vote meaning that the socialist governor, Hannelore Kraft, should now be able to form a majority coalition, having ruled a minority government for the last two years.

"It is such a great feeling to be ahead again for the first time in 12 years," said Kraft, who pushed the state further into debt but through creating more police and teaching jobs. She said it was a "clear signal" to Berlin.

The result - the worst showing for the CDU in the state since World War II - is a major political blow for Merkel, who had tried to paint the local government as irresponsibly running up debt.

German newspapers and centre-right politicians are portraying the defeat as dire and "catastrophic" with state elections due to take place in September next year.

Statements by those from within the CDU had raised the stakes further. Norbert Roettgen, the CDU's candidate in the state, in the run-up to Sunday's vote drew direct parallels between the internal debate in North Rhine-Westphalia and that of the more general debate contrasting prudent Germany versus profligate Greece, which has needed two bailouts.

It was a parallel that interested many outside Germany too.

Berlin, the eurozone's paymaster, has for the last two years demanded that all member states impose austerity measures to cut budget deficits. The message culminated in the recently-signed fiscal compact treaty, which enshrines balanced budgets into national law.

Sunday's defeat is likely to reduce Merkel's political authority for continuing to impose Germany's view of fiscal prudence across Europe.

The result also comes just a week after the Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, won the French presidential elections. During his campaign, Hollande rejected Germany's one-sided focus on budget cuts and higher taxes. On the same day, the overwhelming majority of Greeks voted for anti-austerity parties in the country's parliamentary election.

In Brussels itself, meanwhile, the European Commission is strongly pushing a message of budget "consolidation" plus targeted investment. The two prevalent ideas on the table are project bonds, involving the private sector in funding investment projects, increasing the lending capacity of the European Investment Bank.

Twenty five EU leaders sign German-model fiscal treaty

Germany's vision of an EU of fiscally prudent states held in check by tight budgetary laws and the threat of legal action came a step closer on Friday when 25 leaders signed a new fiscal treaty.

Finnish PM: Russia preparing for 'long conflict with West'

Finland, which shares a border with Russia, has cautioned about the danger of a Russian attack in coming years. Russia is not "invincible" but "self-satisfaction is no longer an option," Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said.

EU Commission proposes opening Bosnia accession talks

Eight years on, the EU Commission is to recommend on Tuesday that member states open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country took "impressive steps" to meet the bloc's standards, Ursula von der Leyen said.

Opinion

How the EU can raise its game in the Middle East

Could the EU repair its reputation and credibility by taking action on Gaza? EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have worked hard to repair the damage, but have faced political headwinds due to internal divisions.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us