German conservatives say no to SPD’s Europe idea

Seniormembers of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives haverejected the vision for a United States of Europe put forward by theSocial Democrats (SPD), with whom they are hoping to form a governingcoalition.SPD leader Martin Schulz said on Thursday that his party,which suffered its worst post-war election result in September, wouldonly gain support by providing a clear vision of Europe, and called for a“United States of Europe” by 2025.Merkel’s conservatives, who lostvoters to the far-right due to their liberal migrant policy, want theSPD to agree to a last-ditch alliance with them after talks on a tie-upwith two smaller parties collapsed.Discussions on maintaining thealliance that has governed Germany since 2013 are due to start onWednesday but the two parties look set to clash over the issue ofEurope, which is likely to play a key role in talks.Seniorconservative Volker Kauder said that Schulz’s European proposal posed “adanger to the EU and citizens’ approval of Europe” and Peter Altmaier,Merkel’s chancellery chief, said that the idea, and especially thetimeframe, was unrealistic.An Emnid poll for Bild newspaper foundless than one-third of Germans (30%) supported Schulz’s idea whilealmost half (48%) rejected it.Kauder told the Tagesspiegel newspaperthat it was necessary to strengthen Europe but also important torecognise that at the moment people longed for the “reliability thatthey believe they can find in national states”.He added: “Theproposal would also jeopardise the work of unification that is unique inthe history of the world because the majority of member statescertainly wouldn’t participate in creating a united states.”Altmaiertold the Rheinische Post newspaper that Schulz’s proposal had surprisedhim and it would be better to tackle specific problems in Europe suchas unemployment, the protection of external borders and co-ordination ofeconomic policy.“The discussion about whether Europe should be afederal state, confederation or a united states is one for academics andjournalists - not for German foreign policy,” Altmaier said.“AUnited States of Europe would transfer member states’ sovereignty toBrussels and there would not be a majority for that in many EU states,”he added.Merkel has also been sceptical, saying on Thursday that shewould rather concentrate on more co-operation in defence by 2025, onemployment and on innovation.However, the SPD defended Schulz’splan, with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel telling Deutschlandfunk radiothat it would ensure Europe’s voice is heard on the global stage at atime when the influence of Asia, Latin America and Africa is growing.TheSPD is stressing that the outcome of talks with the conservatives isstill open but Schulz said yesterday that if the SPD had the chance toprevent old-age poverty, improve nursing care and affordable housing, itneeded to take that opportunity.Kauder said the conservatives wouldgo into talks prepared to make compromises but added his party had some“absolutely key demands” like capping migration and suspending theright to family reunions for asylum-seekers with only subsidiaryprotection.