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Due to its geographical centrality, Germany does not have many possibilities of altering its foreign or European policy. So, continuity is its guiding principle. The muscle pulled by Germany in European structures also implies a particular responsibility in the common leadership of Europe, which German policy can only discharge if its neighbouring countries have trust in her. This trust can only be obtained through trustworthiness and constancy, in other words by continuity and the credibility of her own conduct. In Germany’s foreign and European policy, questions of style play an important role. The style of the former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder especially placed the emphasis on the right to pursue Germany’s own course, without necessarily taking account of the interests and points of view of her neighbouring countries. That explains his preference for bilateral accords with the larger neighbouring countries, on the one hand with France, and on the other with Russia. This has raised doubts about the European commitment and Atlantic trustworthiness of the federal government, even though in this it had for the most part followed the course of Schröder’s predecessors, from Adenauer onwards. For the new federal government, too, it remains true that in Europe too nothing can work without a solid “entente” between Germany and France and that therefore the governments of the two countries must work together as closely as possible. But if, as in the previous years, the impression were to be given that they are pursuing only their own interests, rather than those of the European Union, this cooperation would become counter-productive, causing a loss of trust. The relations between Germany and Russia belong, on the other hand, to a different level. Of course, these relations are of great importance with a view to stability in Europe and will be fostered with particular care also in future. But in this case, too, the impression was given in the past that a kind of complicity existed between the two countries, also due to the exclusivity of certain accords and the having neglected the interests and the sensibilities of Poland and the Baltic States. The coalition contract between the CDO, CSU and SPD, which contains the programme of the Merkel government, restores foreign policy in a decisive way to the parameters of continuity, corrects the imbalances that had damaged relations especially with the smaller neighbouring countries and the USA and newly recalls the consciousness of an ethical foundation of German policy. A significant correction is given by the German attitude to the negotiations on Turkey’s membership of the EU. The Merkel government will interpret the current crisis of the EU as a chance to re-direct the European project to the needs of our time. The directives of the new government in the area of Community policy bear Merkel’s signature. Already during her first trip abroad to Brussels, Paris, Warsaw and London, the new chancellor left no doubt about her serious intention to restore Germany to the vanguard of integration policy and to revive her role as a trustworthy mediator for the union of Europe.
