True pragmatist

Date: 31/10/1996

MONIKA Wulf-Mathies is one of the few top-level politicians whom a lot of people, if they knew her, might like to join for a drink at the local pub.

When she came to Brussels early in 1995, the former trade union leader, unexpectedly appointed as one of Germany's two European Commissioners by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, was an unknown quantity outside her native country.

But after nearly two years in the Commission, the 54-year-old social democrat has quickly made her mark.

It is true that Wulf-Mathies' role as Commissioner responsible for regional policy and cohesion funds has not made her one of the most prominent individuals on the Brussels media catwalk, although the attention increasingly being paid to EU regional policies in the run-up to enlargement is slowly helping to change all that.

But insiders praise her mastery of dossiers, her dedication to work and the earnestness with which she pursues her goal of using her office to make a positive impact on the lives of ordinary people.

When, in the winter of 1994-95, Wulf-Mathies was holidaying in the mountains before taking up her new Commission job, the hotel she stayed at ran out of fax paper. Even before starting work, she was pestering her future colleagues for dossiers and reports in a bid to master her regional funding brief quickly even though nothing in her previous job had prepared her for the subject.

The result of this working holiday was that Wulf-Mathies sailed through the European Parliament's confirmation hearing with flying colours.

While other Commissioners-designate were left visibly fumbling for words, Wulf-Mathies impressed her inquisitors with competent answers to even the most awkward of questions.

Wulf-Mathies' ability to combine relentless activity with good cheer is the hallmark of a workaholic who genuinely enjoys what she is doing.

“She does not seem to need to relax,” says one colleague. “I think her work gives her such a buzz that she has very little need for free time. Every evening and every weekend, she takes big bags of dossiers home with her.”

However, the Commissioner's obvious devotion to her work has not completely extinguished her love of other activities.

Like many politicians, Wulf-Mathies enjoys a good meal, and, rather surprisingly for a woman whose life has largely been a ceaseless swirl of hectic activity, is an avid reader of modern poetry.

Her choice of sports is, however, more in keeping with her constantly-on-the-move image: she likes to spend her winter holidays cross-country skiing with her husband, Carsten, an engineer who works in Germany and usually joins his illustrious wife in Brussels at weekends.

Wulf-Mathies' political career was launched in 1971 when, at the age of 29, she joined the then German Chancellor Willy Brandt's office in Bonn.

In the years after Helmut Schmidt took over from Brandt at the top of German politics, Wulf-Mathies led the chancellery's department of social affairs.

Even today, the efficient and pragmatic Schmidt is one of the politicians Wulf-Mathies most admires.

In 1976, however, she left the chancellor's office to join the managing board of the public service trade union ÖTV. Four years later, and to many observers' surprise, she was elected as the first woman ever to lead one of Germany's most powerful unions.

From that day onwards, Wulf-Mathies' place as one of the most photographed women in Germany was secure.

In the still-macho world of union politics, many doubted that Wulf-Mathies would have the stamina to extract concessions from the home affairs ministers with whom it would be her job to negotiate.

But she quickly dispelled any misapprehensions about her ability to stand up to the men entrusted with Bonn's home affairs portfolio - and fend off unwanted advances.

When Germany's former Home Affairs Minister Lothar Zimmermann published memoirs in which he described trying to dampen her negotiating ardour by putting his hand on her knee during particularly gruelling talks, Wulf-Mathies, while seeing the funny side of the incident, was not particularly happy.

She demanded and obtained a retraction of the offending work from circulation, while defending her action in such a way that observers still credited her with maintaining a sense of humour about the whole episode.

“She is often apt to make very funny, rather biting comments,” says one close observer.

A specific target for Wulf-Mathies' irony - and one which can on occasions arouse her genuine irritation - is that of journalists confronting her with what she sees as silly and ill-informed questions.

In her 22 months in Brussels, Wulf-Mathies has become a staunch defender of the Commission's work. Aides say she genuinely enjoys working in a multilingual environment and is impressed by her staff's efficiency.

Her experience in Brussels can lead her to attack angrily those who deride the Commission as a bureaucratic monster far removed from ordinary people's concerns.

Even after three decades of political activity,Wulf-Mathies still manages to cling to her belief that political office can make a difference if used well.

“Unemployment is one of the things she really feels strongly about,” says one observer.

When an Irish politician once attacked her regional policies for being too left wing, Wulf-Mathies launched into what was - for her - a violent counter-attack, chiding the man for not caring enough about the jobless.

And her belief that politics matter gives her the strength to incur the wrath of her colleagues by single-handedly blocking their decisions when she feels that ordinary people's interests are being sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.

But despite her idealistic approach, Wulf-Mathies is, in reality, a true pragmatist.

Her 13 years at the helm of one of Germany's biggest and most important unions have shaped her into an extremely experienced negotiator who takes genuine delight in ferreting out a com-promise where many observers believe there is room for none.

“She will always want to try and find a solution for every problem, and will always go for a compromise,” says one close observer.

Her belief in the merits of negotiation has led Wulf-Mathies to devote herself wholeheartedly to the Commission's work in Northern Ireland, where she believes Brussels can make a difference in bringing people together.

Her time spent battling to protect the rights of workers has also given her a great ability to communicate with ordinary people. Wulf-Mathies, who likes to cram her travelling schedules with visits to EU-funded projects and other appointments, nevertheless makes time to wander through the poorer residential areas of the many European cities she visits, listening to people.

As one would expect of one of Chancellor Kohl's nominees, the Commissioner's European credentials are also impeccable.

Like many German politicians, Wulf-Mathies, who was born in the rural town of Wernigerode in 1942 after her family was evacuated from wartime Hamburg, sees the process of European integration as the best and perhaps the only way to secure peace on the European continent.

“She is completely on the chancellor's wavelength,” says one observer. “Time and again, she will use a speech to stress that European construction must serve as a model for peace.”