The Wider Impact of a Greener Germany
Andrew Chappell 4th April 2011
Much media attention is currently being directed towards the nuclear crisis in Japan as a consequence of tectonic movements underneath her and rightly so. However on 27th March there were also some unnerving movements of potentially catastrophic consequences in Germany. The immediate afflicted party being Angela Merkel’s coalition government, however, the reverberations could be felt across the whole of the European Union.
27th March marked the day of the regional government elections in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. Before the weekend both states were governed by the CDU and FDP coalition, currently the coalition parties in state. After, however the picture looked a little different. A surge in voters for the Green party looks to have shifted the balance of power towards a Green/SPD coalition. Onlookers may believe this just to be a less than satisfactory result for Angela Merkel and her coalition, however take into account that the CDU has been controlling Baden-Württemberg for 58 years, and you begin to realise the potential significance of this result. Granted the nuclear crisis in Japan definitely arrived at the wrong point in time for Angela Merkel, who has twisted and turned over the fate of Germany’s current nuclear plants, whether to decommission them or not. However do these results represent a real change in German and even world politics, or are they just a knee-jerk reaction to events currently unfolding in the far-east?
Looking to the immediate future a weaker coalition government could present some real urgent issues. With Irish banks needing an approximate extra 24bn Euros and Portugal’s government missing its deficit reduction targets Mrs Merkel is in an ever increasing tight corner. Cries of help are calling from almost every corner of the EU, but with waning support for her coalition in Germany it could prove increasingly difficult to push through any European Union bailout package. Moreover with Germany being the key to any substantial reform within Europe more considerable doubts could be mounting about the future of the monetary and political union. If sovereign debt defaults occur on a multi-country basis, who knows what might happen to the EU. Just to add a little more uncertainty to the mix Nicholas Sarkozy’s French government also recently lost a regional election, that’s two of Europe’s strongest economic states political systems weakened. The impending sovereign debt thunderstorms, could soon be lashing down across Europe.
Germany’s political woes could extend beyond Europe. Similarly due to a lack of support, Merkel’s indecision over recent events in North Africa, any NATO intervention could prove difficult.
This will however be the first time the Green party has taken control of office in a state in German history. On the back of their doubling in support, from 12% to just over 24% since 2006, the Greens will feel in a confident mood. They will face a challenge on their hands in ruling Baden-Württemberg. An export machine creating the slogan “Made in Germany”. Baden-Württemberg boasts arguably the best regional economy in Europe: some of the lowest levels of unemployment (and youth unemployment), a highly skilled workforce and home to the industrial might of giants such as Mercedes, Porsche and Bosch; here the greens have a lot of qualities to exercise.
On the other hand could this be the template for a green revolution throughout Europe? Germany is already the 2nd largest investor in low carbon technologies ($41.2bn in 2010, US Pew Environmental Group), and furthermore has one of the more green-friendly orientated legislation structures in Europe.
It is hard to imagine that the decisions made by people living in the comfy surroundings of southern Germany could create seismic shifts and have such an important impact on those people who live in the euro periphery. But such is the increasingly interconnected, globalised world that we live in; it could just be that way.
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