Monetary union set to take centre stage in German electioneering

Date: 02/11/1995

By Thomas Klau

FACED with an unprecedented slump in the opinion polls and a series of electoral disasters, the German Social Democrats'(SPD) divided leadership is seriously considering making plans for monetary union a central issue in the 1998 parliamentary election.

The SPD's embattled president Rudolph Scharping and his long-standing foe Gerhard Schröder, prime minister of Lower Saxony, raised a cross-party storm of protest this week by simultaneously voicing doubts on the wisdom of opting for a single currency in 1999.

In a weekend interview, Scharping signalled stiff opposition to the government's economic policies and spoke out against sacrificing the deutschemark to “some sort of idea that would finally bring neither economic nor monetary stability”.

Monetary stability is more important than the existing timetable for EMU, said Scharping.

It was the first time that the wooden Social Democrat, whose party usually supports the government stance on Europe, had spoken of monetary union in such dismissive words.

Scharping's attack was made all the more potent by an unusual show of apparent cooperation with SPD maverick Schröder, his main rival for the party leadership. Schröder proclaimed monetary union to be one of the main issues for the 1998 elections, pointing too popular fears and welcoming the fact that the SPD would finally manage to focus around a “national issue”.

The provocative remarks on a subject, which despite deep misgivings in the electorate has until now been largely kept out of the party political debate, drew a cross-fire of indignant protest from government members and senior SPD members alike.

While Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel sharply warned against casting doubts on European integration, European Parliament President Klaus Hänsch roundly rebuked his own party leaders for having “encouraged nationalistic beerhall blather”.

Finance Minister Theo Waigel meanwhile used the influential mass circulation daily newspaper Bild Zeitung to accuse Scharping of trying to draw attention away from the party's internal struggles, while outlining the history of SPD support for both the Maastricht Treaty and European integration.

In an attempt at partial damage control, the SPD's economic policy spokesman publicly reaffirmed the party's endorsement of the existing EMU timetable.

But in the light of the SPD's dismal electoral showing and of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's growing popularity, government politicians are increasingly afraid that the Social Democrats might well throw long-term credibility to the winds and go into electoral battle waving the banner of the 'Save-The-D-mark Party'.