Press

The EU and single market are a “core national interest” for Germany, “essential to its stability, security and prosperity”, said Christian Odendahl of the Centre for European Reform. All major parties and most voters bar the 13% who cast their ballots for the anti-immigrant AfD want more EU cooperation, not less.

Christian Odendahl of the Centre for European Reform (CER) said Merkel's position will not be significantly weakened in the eyes of other EU leaders, but the less "wiggle room" she now has domestically will affect her ability to make deals with the bloc. Instead of having a commanding majority in the parliament, Odendahl pointed out, "she'll have to look carefully at all sides to make sure everyone's happy in her coalition – which will be a difficult coalition to begin with."

Sophia Besch, research fellow at the CER, said the German elections will not affect the outcome of Brexit because all the parties share a similar stance. She said: "All major German parties want to maintain close economic and political ties to Britain post-Brexit, and limit the economic fallout. "But Germans are also adamant that there will be no cherry-picking by the British after Brexit, that means no selective participation in the single market."

«Difficile vedere la differenza tra centro destra e centro sinistra, in Germania i due partiti sono oramai indistinguibili», ha sottolineato a caldo Simon Tilford, vice direttore del Centre for European Reform di Londra: «Come del resto in altri grandi Paesi europei». A proposito d'Europa: nessuno più del presidente francese Emmanuel Macron avrà sofferto nel vedere i risultati delle elezioni tedesche. Il suo grande piano di riforma dell'Unione europea si basa innanzitutto su una profonda e sincera alleanza tra la sua Francia e una Germania libera dall'incubo elezioni, di nuovo saldamente in mano alla Cancelliera.

Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform tweeted: “13.5% for AFD grim, but its high point given refugee inflows falling back? Hopefully SPD result will force it to be more social-democratic.

« Avec les résultats de ce soir, la coopération entre la CDU et le SPD prend fin, a déclaré son candidat Martin Schulz. […] Nous sommes tous d’accord pour devenir le premier parti d’opposition. […] Notre parti connaît à nouveau des heures amères, mais la social-démocratie a survécu et trouvé le moyen de montrer sa force — même confrontée à l’extrême droite qui affiche son visage hideux. » Selon l’économiste en chef du Centre for European Reform, Christian Odendahl, ce résultat n’est ni plus ni moins qu’« un désastre pour le SPD ».

Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform tweeted: “13.5% for AFD grim, but its high point given refugee inflows falling back? Hopefully SPD result will force it to be more social-democratic.”

“How does the EU cope with losing a substantial net contributor?” said John Springford, the director of research of the Centre for European Reform. “You have to try to find money either from net contributors who aren’t necessarily going to be too keen on that, or from net recipients who are going to receive less money. Obviously, this is going to be nightmarish.”