The French presidential election signals a turning point in the debate about Europe: François Hollande's victory would open the field for fiscal politics that are not dependent on the squeeze of austerity measures, argues Niels Annen, a member of the German Social Democratic executive council.
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The Eurozone crisis has accelerated European politics to unprecedented levels. While pundits spent decades lamenting the dysfunctional nature of European political parties, Angela Merkel’s announcement that she would support the re-election of President Sarkozy in France (“I support him, regardless of his policies”) is the clearest indication to date that the time of national politics is over.
The coming weeks will not result in the formation of European parties, but they will be crucial in determining future responses to the current crisis. While chancellor Merkel has begun to beat the social welfare drum domestically – she now supports the social democratic demand for a national minimum wage – her government’s policies have resulted in 20 percent wage cuts in Greece. The austerity measures imposed by Germany and France are showing their teeth, pensions are cut, union rights are curbed.
While the situation at the periphery of the European continent is becoming increasingly dramatic (and now leads to outbreaks of anti-German anger), the national debate in Germany seems completely decoupled from it.
German growth is secure, and the deeply held fears of inflation have even silenced the opposition. Virtually nobody dares to criticize the policies of Mrs. Merkel. But that is precisely the problem.
When even Portugal – Europe’s fiscal honor roll student – is driven to the brink of recession by the harsh demands from Berlin (and nobody in Germany questions the burden imposed by Chancellor Merkel on the rest of Europe), maybe the French presidential election can serve as a catalyst for discussion. Germans might be blind to some facts, but Merkel’s austerity demands are seen increasingly critical throughout Europe. The rise of Mario Monti’s government in Italy has already changed the political landscape.
The political dynamite of the French election can now be found in the demand of François Hollande – Sarkozy’s challenger – to re-negotiate the European fiscal agreements. Hollande, a Socialist, is openly critical of the neoliberal consensus of European crisis management. But he is also intelligent and savvy enough to insist on fiscal responsibility and a reduction of debt.
For the Left, this debate is about more than photo ops. It is directly linked to the importance of progressive ideas on the European stage. Merkel’s austerity policies have now been imposed on all countries except Germany. They have deepened the recession within the Eurozone and have suffocated progressive fiscal policy proposals at the same time.
Hence, a victory for Hollande would simultaneously be a defeat for Mrs. Merkel. On a positive note, it would create the necessary room for new approaches to growth and employment – room that is direly needed at the moment. And it would expose the conservative strategy of branding Left ideas as isolated and irrelevant as folly.
Finally, and despite the obvious differences between socialist and social democratic parties in various EU countries, it would signal that progressive ideas have regained the political high ground. Voters have more options than simply to sign off on the alleged unavoidability of conservative approaches to crisis management.
- Niels Annen works in the international policy office of the Social Democratic Friedrich-Ebert Foundation. From 2005 to 2009, he served as a member of the German parliament before becoming a Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Washington DC. Annen has been a member of the German Social Democratic executive council since 2003.
This opinion article was first published by online news and features magazine The European.