The German chancellor's unholy alliance with the car industry does not sit well with her international stance on climate change
Let's start with an easily overlooked staff announcement from Angela Merkel's office. It was recently made public that Eckart von Klaeden, a minister of state in the chancellory who is said to be very close to Merkel, will move jobs at the end of the year and become chief lobbyist for Daimler AG. He'll be leading the "global external affairs and public policy" unit of Germany's most important car manufacturer.
Stories such as these are indicative of the unholy alliance between Germany's political class and the car industry. Few sectors wield such power in the Bundestag as Daimler and co. So to most German politics insiders it didn't come as a surprise when Germany this week derailed an EU compromise deal on car emissions. It will, however, have come as a surprise to those who have bought into Merkel's reputation as Klimakanzlerin, asa politician who is committed to acting on climate change. The US president, Barack Obama, for one, has over the years repeatedly urged the world to "look at Berlin" for inspiration on how to "save this planet". So why is Merkel risking her hard-earned reputation?
The reasons are shockingly simple. In May this year Merkel received a letter from her party comrade Matthias Wissmann, who used to be transport minister under Helmut Kohl and now happens to be president of the German car manufacturers association. Wissmann warned Merkel that she shouldn't allow Germany's "premium sector" – the car industry – to be "literally destroyed by regulations based on arbitrarily set carbon limits". Jobs were at stake, he warned.
It triggered precisely the response he would have wished for: Merkel torpedoed the EU talks. No matter that the German car industry has forever backmailed politicians with threats of its own imminent collapse. No matter that floods, draughts and tornadoes are increasingly giving us a terrifying picture of the consequences of global warming. No matter that stricter carbon limits would not only benefit the climate but also our drivers, because they'd ultimately be the ones saving money if there was pressure on the industry to build more fuel-efficient cars. As it stands, Merkel's team is failing to protect her from a major own goal on climate policy. It's nothing less than negligent.
Naturally, Merkel's advisers will be focused on the general election taking place in three months' time: the promise to protect German jobs will be central to her campaign, even if they know that those jobs can only be guaranteed in the short term. If Merkel's environment minister or economic advisers were more responsible, they would tell her the following: the German car industry only has a long-term future if it waves goodbye to its gas-guzzling days. Only by staying innovative can it continue to compete with China, India and Brazil. And there's no doubt that the price of petrol will continue to rise. It's in Germany's own interest to confront that reality.
Germany may be world champions when it comes to recycling, but when it comes to green economics, it fails to live up to its reputation. When Obama this week committed to reducing America's carbon output, the German environment minister, Peter Altmaier, tweeted: "Wenn's so weitergeht, wird's richtig gut!" – "If we carry on like this, things are going get really great!" In the light of his chancellor's subsequent actions, that just looks like hypocrisy.
The problem is how can German politicians reprimand other climate sinners when it doesn't manage to keep its own commitments? How long until other industries write to the chancellor, asking for the same special treatment as the car manufacturers? If you want to lead the world in terms of green technology, "we want to save the world, but …" just won't do.