Hard times mean charity begins at home

Lizzy Davies in Berlin
The Guardian, Friday 12 December 2008

Collars turned up to ward off the cold, puffing morosely on cigarettes, the group of factory workers standing in the chill of a bleak industrial suburb of west Berlin yesterday did not have much to say about the intricacies of the EU's policies. But they knew enough to be unhappy. "Frankly, they can go screw themselves," was the verdict of one. "We've got enough on our plates."
When Angela Merkel raised the ire of environmental campaigners this week by vowing not to agree to any new Brussels regulations that "endanger jobs or investment in Germany", these were the people she had in mind. The EU's powerhouse economy is fired by a heavy industrial sector which is bigger than France and Britain's combined - and which is fearful of the future.
By promising to reject several important climate-change measures that she would previously have been expected to endorse, the increasingly trenchant chancellor has reassured those who feared the green proposals would lead to mass unemployment and the relocation of staple domestic industries.
And by adopting a reticent position on an EU-wide economic stimulus package, she has reflected a growing feeling of resentment in Germany - a feeling that, for once, Berlin should not have to pick up the tab.
"Germany has always been at the heart of Europe, always participated fully," said one senior employee at Siemens. "And when everything's going well, of course we've got money for everyone else. But things aren't going that well at the moment."
Siemens itself announced 5,250 job losses in Germany this year. A respected thinktank has said the country faces its worst recession in postwar history, with joblessness likely to rise fast next year.
"We have seen the US standing for itself, Britain for itself, the French too of course, and now the time has come for us to fight for our own interests as well," said the Siemens employee, who wanted to remain anonymous.
Another Berliner, taxi driver Franck Drescher, said: "We put in the most and we get out the least. At some point you have to say enough is enough. There is money, of course, but it's got to go to the Germans who need it, before other countries. And when you're working 14 hours a day just to make ends meet, and you hardly ever see your family - you need it."
While her newly assertive stance has been broadly welcomed by Germans long used to living in a country which for historical reasons has been reluctant to push itself forward on the European stage, there is a desire for Merkel to choose her battles carefully.
Her U-turn on climate change policy, for instance, may have placated a restive industrial sector before next September's general election, but it has enraged the powerful green community.
They are furious at what they see as an unforgivable betrayal by the woman they once called "the climate chancellor" for her commitment to cutting carbon emissions.
"What she is doing is really dangerous," said Andre Boehling, of Greenpeace Germany. "She is doing the opposite of what she wanted a year ago ... behaving like countries such as Italy and Poland, which say whatever is to the benefit of their own industry."
On the economy, too, Merkel faces an increasingly vociferous opposition: economists, business leaders and even members of her own CDU party are urging a round of tax cuts and government spending; the headline on this week's Spiegel called her Timid Angela.
"I think it was Sarkozy who said France was acting while Germany was pondering," said Ralph Brueckner, who works in the technology industry.
"He is right. She says she's fighting for us, but she's not doing anything."