On 26 September 2021, the citizens of Germany will elect a new Bundestag and thus also a new government. The German position in the influential EU Council of Ministers will be a decisive pacesetter in how the European concert develops. That is why the Bundestag election matters for European politics as a whole.

As EM Germany’s analysis of election programmes in the #EBDGrafik shows, there is consensus among EM Germany’s member parties on many of EM Germany’s priorities. Diversity of opinions, however, becomes apparent on the topic of the future design of EU finance policy. Do we need new own resources in the EU budget? How should the Stability and Growth Pact develop? The parties differ on this in particular.

The current set-up of the European policy coordination of the German federal government appears too opaque and prone to departmental and party struggles. At the same time, Germany cannot afford further strategic fatigue or restraint – as it has been the case at the Conference on the Future of Europe. That is why EM Germany pleads for courage for change from the incoming government. Considering how the German and European ability to perform in the future are closely intertwined, the new federal government needs a strong European plan that is characterised by courage for European impulses and a comprehensible democratic culture of responsibility.

Click here for the graphic about the analysis of the elections programmes for the Bundestag election 2021 in English