German Ambassador Gudrun Maria Sräga: After the German election
Vanya Walker-Leigh
“While Chancellor Merkel and her party the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) won the election, its loss of one million votes compared to last time was a huge setback while establishing the coalition needed to ensure a majority in the Bundestag will involve possibly lengthy negotiations”, Germany’s ambassador to Malta Gudrun Maris Sräga told this paper in an exclusive interview.
“There will be much soulsearching on CDU’s decline and the rise of the extreme rightwing AFD (Alternative for Germany) gaining 12.6% of the votes. It is strongly anti-EU, antimigration, anti-Islam and has overtaken the left Linke party as the most extreme opposition to CDU while becoming the third largest party in the Bundestag. In contrast, AFD failed to clarify its policies on key economic and social issues. Continuing differences in conditions between the former West and East Germany could be a factor with the Linke (left) party making solid gains in the east. There is also fear of migrants, of social decline, Islam, migrants and the ‘nostalgia’ of some for the former German Democratic Republic – where housing, jobs and everything else were guaranteed by the state – but of course there was no freedom of expression or opinion”.
“Until CDU reaches agreement with the only two possible coalition partners – the Green Party and the Liberals (with 8.9% and 10.7% of votes cast) – the preelection government will continue in a caretaker role, but will not be proposing any new legislation. CDU’s coalition partner in the last government, the Social Democrats led by the former president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz has announced it would now become the Opposition saying this is what its voters want. They also lost votes compared to last time (4.9%) but less than the CDU’s loss of 8.6%.”
“The Bundestag reconvenes in a month but the coalition may not be in place by then. There are a number of issues where there are wide divergences. For example, energy. The Greens want a total phase out of coal-based power stations by 2030, opposed by the Liberals and the rapid conversion of the car and truck fleet away from petrol and diesel to electric propulsion – which the Liberals claim is not possible. Another difficult issue is pension reform – the Liberals advocate more privatisation, which Greens do not support. There are also the need for more affordable housing, especially for the elderly, single parents, youth and whether or not rent control should be introduced. How the educational system should be reformed to meet current labour market needs and the challenges of future development is also a key topic”.
“While the three parties in the future coalition are all strongly pro-European, they will need to discuss in detail their respective positions on the reform proposals issued by the Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on 13 September (reported in the 21 September issue of this paper) and President Macron this week.”
Germany’s Sustainable Development Strategy to achieve the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals was launched this year, to be revised every four years. Last November it issued its long-term strategy to 2050 for low-carbon development. Its ‘Energiewende’ (energy shift) will end nuclear power in 2022, aim at a 60% share for renewable energies in total energy production by 2050 as well as a 50% cut in energy consumption below 2008 levels by then. A wide-ranging policy to stimulate the production of electric vehicles and their batteries is now in place. The last G20 meeting under German presidency at the end of November will launch the Resource Partnership for the efficient and sustainable use of raw materials and natural resources.
“Migration will continue to be a challenge since Germany will not be building walls and fences on its frontiers. Flows have declined since 2015, when the civil service could not cope with the huge load of processing. Integration of migrants qualifying to stay and rapid repatriation of those who do not will remain central policies. The Chamber of Commerce (to which every company belongs) is spearheading free German language and vocational training courses as well as “orientation internships” for migrants. The government needs to arrive at a more efficient combination of private sector, municipal and regional initiatives with federal policies.”
“However, only joint European efforts can create a reformed, fair, solidarity-based and crisisresistant European Asylum system. This means greater cooperation with and support of countries of transit and origin as well as improved protection of EU’s external borders”.
As G20 president, Germany promoted the support by finance ministers of a Compact with Africa to promote private investments while the G20 summit in Hamburg endorsed a comprehensive G20 Africa Partnership Initiative. Germany is pressing for its idea of a Marshall Plan for Africa to be integrated into the EU’s development strategy with its key provisions also reflected in preparations for the forthcoming EU-Africa summit in November in Ivory Coast. These provisions include prioritising jobs and opportunities for youth, developing legal migration, investing in entrepreneurship, focusing on meeting basic needs, a partnership approach replacing the ‘donor-recipient’ policies.
Value creation instead of exploitation means focusing on economic diversification, the establishment of production chains, targeted support for agriculture and SME accompanied by improved access to the EU single market. The Plan includes North African nations also covered by the activities of the 43-nation Union for the Mediterranean (EU-28 + 15 southern nations) which Germany strongly supports.
Turning to “excellent” bilateral relations, Ambassador Sräga said that in 2016 Malta’s exports to Germany reached €389 million (its second largest foreign market) while imports totalled €366 million (its fourth source of foreign goods). German direct investment stood at €15 billion at the end of 2015 making Malta the 15th highest recipient ahead of Singapore, Russia, Canada and Japan. German-owned local companies employ over 3,500 workers and there is an active German-Maltese Business Network. While there are 31 direct flights a week, German tourists (262,000) are the third largest group coming to Malta, with Germans accounting for 14 per cent of English-language students.
“Germans attending meetings here under Malta’s EU presidency were thrilled by the hospitality, the beauty and sense of history of the country displayed everywhere. Many are thinking of coming back some time,”Ambassador Sräga concluded.