er e

is the world's most powerful woman-..

reason s why
Zehn Jahre Amtszeit, eine Rezession
und internationale Krisen haben der
Bundeskanzlerin nichts anhaben
konnen . Sie gilt als eine der
machtigsten Frauen der Welt.
KATE CONNOLLY berichtet aus Berlin.

1. Strength in office
Angela Merkel is now into her third term in
Q.(fi_g:, and this has a historical dimension _
nor just beca use she is at the zenith of her
power, but because Konrad Adenauer is the
onl y chancellor before her to have had such
3 _ stro?g standing after a similar amount of

tim e .111 offi ce. Helmut Kohl an d H eImut

Sch midt came dose ' but neith er• was m . suel1
a srro1~g a position as she is at such a late sta e
of G chancellorships. Merkel w1'II go cl own
. their g
111 _e rman and European history as a lead-
er_with a hu ge amount of staying power d
wi th ,some . .
historic
.
achievements t·o he1 ,. name
an
- esp~c1aJI~ if she manages to save th e euro,
I - JtI i_s a sign of her stron g JJO m1on , · .·
tI1at
s ,e ,as yet to say wh ether she w1'll . c
fi . I ~ 1 u n ror a
ouin term . Ihe fact she has not rul ed . . .
has• ce itarn· · JYe1·un ·mated earlier fl " ll .It out I
sh • · h
e rrng t nor see through her third
= !.>.ill~ r 1a1
I
would , t b M k I' term . r
. 10 e er e s styl e to lea ve the ..
early. Whar she will do afrerwards .. st.~ge
pure specul ation . rcm ams

~umour I 'ru:m;:il Gerucht

strong standing starke Position
l, strno 'st1.enct11.1I Merkel in Berlln last
term in o It ::i:i; I- - Amtszeit year for the 25th
anniversary of the fall
of the Berlin Wall
 •'1 Wc:1:,ningto n.. wit
. h President
.
'/.. Europe and the euro Obama at the White House
Angela Merkel is some-
times referred to as the de
facto leader of Europe or
"the decider". She has of-
ten had the chance to ce-
ment that role during the
euro crisis. As far as Greece
is concerned, Merkel holds
the purse strings. That will
be even more strongly felt
after the recent electio n
victory of the left-wing
Syriza parry, with its prom-
ises to abandon debt and
to ignore austerity meas-
ures. Merkel has issued a
thinly veiled warning char
the eurozone could survive
without Greece.
Her insistence on using
German-style austerity
measures and reforms on
the rest of Europe - rather
than giving in to pressure
to flood the markers with
ever more money - has won her few friends, especially er favourable conditions, such as low inreresr on bonds
in southern Europe. But her steady hand won her praise and Germany's strong - some would say roo suong -
and secured her huge support in Germany. Without the position as an exporter. Merkel's future challenges will
crisis, she might have been like any other leader. Instead, be to deal with an underfunded public infrastruaure, a
the crisis has come to define her tenure. weak education system and a lack of qualified workers, for
Merkel's declaration chat if the euro fails, Europe fails which Germany will need immigrants.
best expresses her commitment to the European project.
It also underlines the historical opportunity she still faces, 4. Energy reform
as it is far roo early to judge her policies. First, she has to Very soon after the disaster in Fukushima, Japan, Merkel
save the euro, a problem that is far from being solved. made the surprise announcement char s.he would close
Eight years into his tenure as chancellor, Konrad Adenau- eight of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors and that the ochers
er's biggest challenge was the Treaty of Rome. For Hel- would be shut by 2022. The exit was part of a long-term
mut Kohl , it was German unification and Germany's in- transition to alternative energy sources - the so-called
tegration into Europe. Th.e European project seems more Energiewende. le won Merkel support from across the
endangered than at any other time and is thus Merkel:s spectrum . lr also improved Germany's standing as a world
biggest challenge. Ir will be largely up to her whether It
abandon lo'bmndonl ~uf~eben, aussetzen
fails or succeeds. That is why she has placed Europe firmly austerity measure SparmaBnahme
at the centre of the agenda of her third term . 1:-i:'.:'..tcroti ,11~301
blossom I 'blosoml bluhen
- - -
3 •The economy . bond llmmll
earnings I ' :iw1 u1 I
Anleihe, Obligation
Einkommen
While most ocher European leaders were fims?ed _off by
the financial crisis, Merkel has blossomed durmg tt. She purse strings: hold the - die finan zielle Kontrolle haben
l'p:;:s stno z·1UK
fought off a long-term recession in Germany, when the ruhige Hand
. . • h. h country by introducing steady han~ 1. stcdi 'lu.l!t~I
go
l b al economic cr1S1s 1t t e • stimulus package Anreizpaket, Fbrderpaket
economic stimulus packages and shortenin? wor~ing I's timjulos ,pick1d3J
hours. (Employees worked less, but had che~r ~g~ tenure 1 'tcnj:-,J Amtszeit
topped up by the government rather than business.) As a top up ltn~p!UK aufstocken
res l G d"d well in the crisis, helped also by oth-
u t, ermany 1
c; 11 c; Cnnt-linht- ":!.1
leader in energy reform in its effort to address global 240,000 soldiers to a professi onal army of 1-;-0.000 . It was
warming. Her change of direction was seen as typical be- pushed through by then defence minister Karl-Theodor
haviour. Having previously stuck to the position that the zu Guttenberg with Merkel's backing, despite opposition
nuclear reactors were to stay, she made a quick U-turn, from many conservative politicians. Under the current
a method so typical of her that it has been described as defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, the Bundeswehr
Merkelisch. Some said she cleverly used the emotionally today has a childcare service and flexible working hours,
charged moment of Fukushima as a way to get round underlining Merkel's support for family life.
previously stubborn energy bosses who were reluctant to
embrace alternatives. 7. Parent benefit
To support couples with children, Elterngeld (parent ben-
5. Juncker efit) was introduced by Merkel's government in 2007. It
Merkel threw her weight behind Jean-Claude Juncker is Germany's version of maternitv pay, but is available to
so that he could become leader of the European Com- either parent. The aim is to reduce the financial burden
mission last May. In doing so, she hurt David Cameron's on families and to improve Germany's very low birth rate.
attempts to block Luxembourg's former prime minister The tax-financed scheme allows parents to share up to 14
from taking up the role.
Merkel insiders later made clear that she had not ac- abolish [;,'bohJ] abschaffen
tually wanted Juncker, seeing him as a weak candidate. backing ['brek1IJ] UnterstOtzung,
She realized, however, that even she did not have enough ROckendeckung
burden ['b3:d•n] Belastung, Last
influence to stand up to those who did wane him. These
compulsory [bm'pAls•ri] vorgeschrieben, pflicht-
included - rather importantly - the powerful German
(-. p. 61 )
tabloid Bild. Her decision to back the man who went on conscription [bn'sknpJ•n] Wehrdienst, Wehrpflicht
to get the job also put her in a much stronger position embrace [1m'bre1s] in Betracht ziehen, auf greifen
than if she had backed a loser. maternity pay [m;,'t3:n;,ti pe,] Mutterschaftsgeld
reluctant [ri'IAkt;,nt]
6. Abolishing conscription stubborn ['stAb;,n]
abgeneigt, unwillig
stur, starrsinnig
After more than 50 years, the Bundeswehr (armed forces) U-turn ['ju: t 3 :n]
Wendung um 180°
stopped compulsory conscription in July 2011. This was weight: throw one's - behind sich hinter jmdn. stellen
part of a plan to reduce the size of the military from around sb. [wen] ifml.
 9 • Foreign policy and Russia
Merkel has st:ored poinrs for her foreign policy, too, es-
pecia lly by maintaining n constant dialogue with Russian
Pres idl'nt Vladimir Putin over the Crimea dispute. l.l1anks
to her East German .up.lmngi.ug, Merkel is familiar with
Russian culture and speaks Russian to an excellent stand-
ard . While she is no fu n of Putin , rhe person (he reported-
ly kts hi.~ 1.abr:Hlor loose around her, although he.: knows
of her fr·,ir of dogs) , she secs ir as her duty to keep .i n
conta( t wirh hin1. She ha.~ emph as ized ro other Wt .s rcrn
k :1dc:rs rh,u pmting mo 11111ch pressure on him could pu~h
Russia inro pnl it:i c:tl :111d tco11nmic ch:,os, which wNtld
not bt' t~ood fo r Russia, C erm any o ,· E11 ro r C'

10• Succeeding as a woman in a male-oriented party

In Minsk: with Russian President Vladimir Putin
months Qff afrer the birth of a c..:hild :1nd pays each one
up to 67 per Cl'nt of his or her salary dming rhat rirne.
Merkel fought the opponents of E'Lte,·ngf!ld within her
own conservative allianc<..\ having declared this to be one
of the ~ of her government policy. In particular, she
defended the right of men to take tirne off to bring up
their children . While not helping to raise the birth rate,
the policy has had a major impact on family life in Ger-
many, especially on the lives of working mothers.
8. Minimum wage
While it has been driven by her coalition partners, che
Social D emocrats, it is still considered to be to Merkel's
crccfu thar a minimum wage has been introduced during
her tenure of office, following years of campaigning in an
efforr to alleviate social injustice. 111e €8.50-an-hour rate
was in troduced on 1 January 2015 and will , its supporters
say, help to address growing social divisions and deal with
increasing wage inequality. A further aim is to increase
the wages of chose who have en.run~ a pay freeze because
em ployers had argued that l_ow _wages_ were ne~e~sary for
Gerrnany1s comp:rnies co mamcarn their compecmye ed~.
While 110 1 ~i policy :1d1ic.:vcmt nt f,L. , c 1·y i?· . ,u,,,_ , , .-1
Protesr:111r. chi ldless. b isr Gerniat ! 'l_.;< ,ni :w 1-'~id i:1c,, ,hi:
Christian Dt:mm ratic Union - :l rnafo -J.on '. 11.1r.cd L.:·,:,c·
ly Rom:111 C.1t hol ic parry wi rh irs ro0 cs i11 West Gern ,2ny
- has ch,mg('d du~pa rty and , grg.Y@b,, German sc.h.:.- ic cy.
Merkel is Germany's fi rst female political leader and fa-
mously left many men behind her on the way up . She
helped cum the dcep.ly traditional par ry into "one of th e
~ of rhe new German consensus'', according to the
Eurnpean council on foreign relations. TI1is has resulted
in new policies on everything from energy reform to fam-
ily and women's rights - including the recent decision to
introduce female quotas to the boardroom. ■
© Guardian News & Media 2015
Is Merkel the
"new leader of
the free world"?
Some say she is

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