As Angela Merkel steps down, German politics wobbles

“WHAT A PRESIDENCY it has been!” After a gruelling all-night EU summit in mid-December, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, reserved her biggest smile for Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor. The summit, at which the EU’s leaders found agreement on a number of tricky issues, capped Germany’s six-month presidency of the EU Council, which it will hand over to Portugal on January 1st. It may also prove to be the high-water mark of Mrs Merkel’s final term in office.

One year ago Mrs Merkel was starting to cut a diminished figure. Having promised not to stand for a fifth term, she buried herself in foreign policy while the scrap to succeed her began to consume domestic politics. Her centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was below 30% in polls, riven by squabbles that forced Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Mrs Merkel’s presumed heir, to quit as CDU leader. The chancellor’s succession plans lay in tatters.

Two things changed the mood. The first was the pandemic, which thrust Mrs Merkel onto centre-stage again. In a televised address on March 18th she grabbed Germans’ attention by describing the novel coronavirus as the country’s greatest challenge since 1945. More recently, as Germany battles a deadlier second wave, she has delivered impassioned pleas in parliament to lock down harder and faster (the...