Angela Merkel’s biggest political rival signaled he’s ready to provide stability for Germany and called on her to back expanded cooperation in the euro area, setting the tone for their first talks on potentially forming a government.
Social Democratic Party head Martin Schulz said he favors creating a euro-area budget to promote investment, a joint finance minister to curb tax competition among member countries and a “European framework for minimum wages.” A day before meeting Merkel to discuss coalition options, Schulz addressed a business audience in Berlin with what amounts to his party’s agenda for any formal negotiations.
“I can’t tell you what the outcome of the talks will be, but I can assure you of one thing: that I will argue in favor of the best solutions for our country and that my party is aware of its political responsibility,” Schulz said at a BGA employer federation’s convention on Wednesday. “That means you can’t just wing it. You need a bold vision, one that you may have to fight for.”
Ten days after Merkel’s attempt to form a coalition with two other smaller parties collapsed, Schulz is seeking maximum leverage from the chancellor’s need for a junior partner to start the fourth term she won in a national election in September. The former European Parliament president’s call for visionary policies contrasts with Merkel’s preference for a non-ideological, consensus-building approach to governing.
For a guide to Merkel’s coalition options in Germany, click here.
German business groups such as the employer’s association are pressing Merkel and others to end the political drift in Europe’s biggest economy, now in its third month. While a new election and ruling without a firm majority remain options, the chancellor’s party has made it clear that it prefers a stable government.
As the two biggest parties eye a rerun of Merkel’s last government, bickering over Germany’s vote on the European Union’s approval of a widely-used weedkiller underscores the friction within her acting administration ahead of the meeting on Thursday overseen by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt, who’s from a Bavarian party allied with Merkel’s Christian Democrats, defied SPD objections and voted on Monday to keep glyphosate on the market in the EU for another five years, prompting a public rebuke by Merkel.
“Schmidt did a lot of harm,” the SPD’s Schulz said. “What we need is confidence-building.
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