Angela Merkel has transformed German politics since being voted into office in 2005. Her achievements at home and abroad have seen her top Forbes’ most powerful women list eight times. Here are 10 reasons why the East German-raised politician with a doctorate in physical chemistry is considered the most powerful woman on the planet.
1. Strength in office
Angela Merkel is now into her third term in office, and it has a historical dimension – not just because she is at the xenith of her power, but because Konrad Adenauer is the only chancellor before her to have had such a strong standing after a similar amount of time in office. Helmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt came close, but neither were in as strong a position as she is at such a late stage in their chancellorships. She will go down in German and European history as a leader with a huge amount of staying power at the very least and as someone with some historic achievements to her name at best – particularly if she manages to save the euro.
It is indicative of her strong position that she has yet to declare whether she will run for a fourth term. The fact she has not ruled it out has certainly quashed earlier rumours that she might not see through her third term. It would certainly not be Merkel’s style to leave the stage early. What she will do afterwards remains pure speculation. She has refused to be drawn, though roles as European council president or the secretary general of the UN have been mooted, not least because they will be available in 2017.
2. Europe and the euro
She is sometimes referred to as the de-facto leader of Europe or “the decider” and has often had the chance to cement that role during the euro crisis, not least this week over Greece. As far as Athens is concerned, Merkel holds the purse strings, and that will be even more acutely felt if the left-wing Syriza party, with its promises to abandon debt and ignore austerity measures, wins the upcoming election. Merkel has issued a thinly veiled warning that the eurozone could survive without Greece. Her insistence on imposing German-style austerity measures and reforms on the rest of Europe rather than giving in to constant pressures to flood the markets with ever more money won her few friends, particularly in southern Europe, but the steady hand she showed at a time of crisis saw her win praise and secured her huge support in Germany. Without the crisis she might have been just like any other leader. Instead, the crisis has come to define her tenure.
Merkel’s declaration that if the euro fails, Europe fails best expresses her commitment to the European project. It also underlines the historical opportunity she still faces as it is far too early to make a verdict on her policies. First, she has to save the euro, the plight of which is far from over. Eight years into his tenure as chancellor, Konrad Adenauer’s biggest challenge was the Treaty of Rome. For Helmut Kohl, it was German unification and Germany’s integration into Europe. The European project seems more endangered than at any other juncture and, therefore, is her biggest challenge. It will be largely up to Merkel whether it fails or succeeds, which is why she has placed Europe firmly at the centre of the agenda of her third term.
3. The economy
While most other European leaders were finished off by the financial crisis, Merkel has blossomed during it. She adroitly fended off a long-term recession in Germany at the time the global economic crisis hit by introducing economic stimulus packages and shortening working hours, whereby workers worked less but had their earnings topped up by the government rather than business. As a result, Germany flourished in the crisis (helped also by being able to take advantage of other favourable conditions such as low interest on bonds and Germany’s strong – some would say too strong – position as an exporter). Her future challenges will be to deal with underfunded public infrastructure, a flaccid education system and a lack of qualified workers, for which Germany will need immigrants – all of which could culminate to have a disastrous effect on the economy.
4. Energy reform
Very soon after the Fukushima disaster, Merkel made the surprise announcement that she would shut eight of Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors and that the others would be phased out by 2022. The exit was part of a long-term transition to alternative energy sources – the so-called “Energiewende” – and won Merkel considerable support from across the spectrum and boosted Germany’s standing as a world-leader in energy reform in an effort to tackle global warming.
Her change of direction was seen as typical behaviour. Having stubbornly stuck to the position that the nuclear reactors were to stay, she made a swift U-turn – a method so typical for her that it has been described as “Merkelisch”. Some said she cleverly used the emotionally charged moment of Fukushima as a way to get around previously stubborn, stick-in-the-mud energy bosses who were reluctant to embrace alternatives.
5. Juncker
Merkel threw her weight behind Jean-Claude Juncker for European commission leader last May and, in doing so, dealt a severe blow to David Cameron’s attempts to block Luxembourg’s former prime minister from taking up the role. Merkel insiders later hinted she had not actually wanted Juncker, seeing him as a weak candidate, but realised that even she did not have clout enough to stand up to those who wanted him, including – rather importantly – the ever-powerful German tabloid Bild, and recognised the fact soon enough. Her decision to back the man who went on to secure the post put her in a much stronger position than had she backed a loser.
6. Abolishing conscription
After more than 50 years, the Bundeswehr (armed forces) abolished compulsory conscription in July 2011, as part of plans to reduce the size of the military from around 240,000 soldiers to a professional and much fitter army of 170,000. It was pushed through by the then defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, with Merkel’s backing, despite the opposition they faced from many conservative politicians. Under her current defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, the Bundeswehr now has a child-care service and flexible working hours, underlining Merkel’s support for family life.
7. Elterngeld (parent benefit)
In an effort to support couples with children, “Elterngeld” or parent benefit was introduced by Merkel’s government in 2007. It is Germany’s version of maternity pay but is available to either parent and aimed at lessening the financial burden on families and boosting Germany’s very low birthrate. The tax-financed scheme allows parents to share up to 14 months off after the birth of a child and gives each up to 67% of their salary during that time. Merkel staunchly fought the opponents of Elterngeld within her own conservative alliance, having declared it to be one of the planks of her government policy, defending in particular the right for men to take time off to bring up their children. While not boosting the birth rate, the policy has had a major impact on family life in Germany, particularly on the lives of working mothers.
8. Minimum wage
While it has been driven by her coalition partners, the Social Democrats, it is still considered to be to Merkel’s credit that a minimum wage has been introduced on her watch, following years of campaigning in an effort to alleviate social injustice. The €8.50-an-hour (£7-an-hour) rate was introduced on 1 January 2015 and will, say its supporters, help tackle growing social divisions and deal with increasing wage inequality. It is also aimed at boosting the wages of those who have effectively endured a pay freeze as employers argued low wages were necessary for Germany’s companies to maintain their competitive edge.
9. Foreign policy and Russia
Merkel has scored points for her foreign policy endeavours, most recently ensuring that she is in constant dialogue with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the Crimea dispute. Thanks to her East German upbringing she knows Russian culture well and speaks Russian to an excellent standard, and while she is no fan of Putin the person (he reportedly lets his labrador loose around her, despite knowing of her fear of dogs), she sees it as her duty to keep communicating with him. She has emphasised to other western leaders that pressurising him too much could push Russia into political and economic chaos, which would be good neither for Russia, Germany nor Europe.
10. Succeeding as a woman in a male-oriented party
While not a policy achievement, her very presence as a Protestant, childless, East German woman at the helm of the Christian Democratic Union, a male-dominated, largely Catholic party, with its roots in West Germany, has changed not only the party but arguably also German society. She is Germany’s first female political leader and famously left many men behind her on the way up. Merkel helped turn the deeply traditional party into “one of the pillars of the new German consensus”, according to the European council on foreign relations. This has in turn resulted in new policy direction on everything from energy reform to family and women’s rights – including the recent decision to introduce female quotas into the boardroom.