Betsy's Page
Monday, March 24, 2008
European hypocrisy? What a surprise!
Newsweek covers how Germany talks a very good game on environmentalism and integration into Europe, but actually is behaving quite differently.Germany has long painted itself as the good European. Since the birth of the European Union as a steel-and-coal alliance more than half a century ago, Berlin has fought as hard as anyone for a single European marketplace, eastward expansion and, most recently, for Europe to become a leader in the battle against climate change. Yet under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany's rhetoric is failing to stand up to the reality of its policy. She portrays herself as a defender of European integration and the environment by fighting for a new Pan-European treaty and a tough environmental agenda. But German policymakers in Berlin and Brussels are taking a different tack altogether.Now are we really surprised that the same sorts of politicians who are happy to castigate the United States are actually quite slow to back up their words with deeds when it is their pocketbooks that would suffer?
Why is this? In part it is because political leaders at least as far back as Helmut Kohl, chancellor between 1982 and 1998, know that talking a good game about Brussels is a politically savvy move and evidence of good will. But they also understand that Germany is a global powerhouse in its own right—the world's largest exporter of goods—with little need or desire for the kind of bureaucracy Brussels imposes on its enormous industrial and manufacturing sectors. German industry also enjoys a degree of closeness to the government that is extraordinary even by continental standards, and actively lobbies against many Brussels initiatives. Gordon Brown's cabinet in Britain is made up mainly of policy wonks and lawyers, with little corporate connection. French politicians defend their national champions—and sometimes end up working for them—but mainly because so many of them are still owned by the state. In Germany, conservatives and socialists alike have battled against transparency rules that would reveal where parliamentarians get their income, suggesting a deep link between the private and public sectors and a great big revolving door between the two.Labels: Environment, Foreign news
