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Merkel: eurobonds are 'wrong answer'

Monday 22 August 2011 - by Andrew Hickley

Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel - photo by European Commission

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has again defied calls for the issuance of a common eurobond, as a new poll showed her popularity at home has slipped.

On German television on Sunday, Merkel claimed that the financial markets were trying to force leaders into issuing the bonds, "and that we won't do [so]".

"Politics will not simply follow the markets", she said, instead claiming that EU countries would have to tackle a crisis of confidence "at the roots" by improving the competitiveness and growth of individual member states.

Merkel argued eurobonds would lead the EU into a "debt union and not a stability union", arguing that eurozone-backed bonds would be "exactly the wrong answer" to overcoming the crisis.

However a poll of 1,000 Germans published at the weekend made gloomy reading for the Chancellor, with public support for her leadership during the financial crisis slipping.


Surveyed both on the day of Merkel's emergency meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the day after, and unveiled by broadcaster ARD on Friday, 55 per cent of voters said they had little confidence in Merkel's leadership.

Twenty per cent said they felt no assurance in her at all, with 22 per cent expressing strong faith in her management.

In addition, respondents tended to favour appointing either of the opposition socialist party's leading candidates over Merkel, if the 2013 federal elections were to be called immediately.

SPD chairman Frank-Walter Steinmeier polled 44 per cent of support, compared to 40 per cent who said they would vote for Merkel.

Steinmeier's deputy, former finance minister Peer Steinbrueck, was shown to have even greater backing, with 46 per cent of Germans preferring his appointment to the 38 per cent who supported Merkel.

French premier Sarkozy received even smaller support than Merkel, with 63 per cent of the German public saying they had little confidence in his leadership.

While 20 per cent said they felt no confidence in the Frenchman - equal to the number that expressed frustration with Merkel - only 15 per cent said they were impressed by Sarkozy's management of the economic crisis.

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Email: andrew.hickley@gfsnews.com


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