Taking the reins from 67-year-old former German Chancellor Angela Merkel Dec. 8, 63-year-old Social Democrat German Chancellor Olaf Scholz presented his broad vision of the future to the Deutch Bundestag, the German Parliament. In a governing coalition with the Ecological Greens and Liberal Free Democrats, Scholz said he planned to open up Germany to more immigration, something Merkel did when she admitted some 1 million Syrian refugees into Germany during the height of the Syrian War. Scholz worked under Merkel as Vice Chancellor since 2018, rubber-stamping much of Merkel’s liberal policies, despite representing the conservative Christian Democrats Union. Scholz starts his rein further to left than Merkel, if that’s possible, promising to strengthen Germany’s ties to the Brussels-based European Union [EU] but, more importantly, the Paris and Glasgow Climate Accords.
Scholz, who’s been by Merkel’s side for the last four years, plans to work to open the $12 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline that brings natural gas from Russia to Germany. While Olaf says he’ll respect NATO and the Transatlantic Alliance, he knows that Germany must do business with the Kremlin to keep German’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Germany currently has 50% of its power plants from renewable energy, 24% from coal and 12% from natural gas. Merkel vowed after the 2011 nuclear meltdown of Japan’s Fukashima-Daiichi plan that she’d take Germany off nuclear power. With Scholz’ coalition with the Greens, it’s doubtful that nuclear energy can gain much traction in Germany, despite pledges by U.S. President Joe Biden to make major commitments in nuclear energy. Germany hasn’t, like Biden, jumped on the nuclear power bandwagon.
Scholz subscribes to the climate change doomsday scenario, believing the world has only a short time until environmental Armageddon. “We have about 23 years ahead of us in which we must and will get out of fossil fuels with means the biggest transformation of our industry and economy in at least 100 years,” Scholz said. No where in the chancellor’s remarks are Biden’s commitment in the U.S. to Small Modular Reactors [SMRs], the so-called new nuclear technology capable of producing “baseload” carbon free energy for generations to come. Biden and his 62-year-old Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm are gung-ho for nuclear SMR nuclear reactors, trading carbon emissions for nuclear waste. Biden’s cronies seem poised to make investments in Westinghouse and Corvalis, Oregon-based NuScale Power, specialized in building highly efficient SMRs.
Scholz wants to raise Germany’s minimum wage, already among the highest in the EU with Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Scholz’ plan for Germany sounds more like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), with the exception that Germany already has national health care, where the U.S. has Obamacare, a poor substitute. “We are an immigration country . . . but we must work at becoming a better country for integration,” vowing to make in easier for foreigners to work in Germany. Scholz wants the government to fund public investments in infrastructure, education and health care. Conservative critics worry that Scholz will increase the GDP to debt ratio, now standing a 70%, well below France at 115% and the U.S. at 160%. Conservatives oppose more government spending for social programs, something that has no limits in the U.S., where Biden is close to passing his $1.5 trillion Build Back Better [BBB] plan.
Promising no “red lines” when it comes to combating the deadly fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Scholz backs booster vaccines for all fully vaccinated Germans. There’s little separation between Social Democrats and Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union when it comes to the pandemic. Scholz promised to strengthen Germany’s participation in the EU, a cornerstone to Merkel’s 16 years in office. Under Merkel’s leadership, Germany followed closely Brussel’s foreign policy agenda, including backing the Syrian War. Scholz gave no indication whether Germany would support again more Mideast wars that drove the humanitarian refugee crisis which practically broke the European Union. Merkel’s approach to refugees prompted a rebellion in certain EU states like Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, all of which reject EU’s immigration quotas.
Scholz attends his first EU summit Thursday, pledging Germany’s active participation in Brussels, following in Merkel’s footsteps. Scholz joined other EU leaders in warning Russia that any invasion of Ukraine’s sovereignty would be me with strong sanctions. Deciding whether to green light the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Scholz must decide what kind of relationship with Russia. If Scholz blocks the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, it could trigger retaliatory measures by Moscow. Like Merkel, Scholz plans to govern much like Merkel, with a soft but firm leadership style, free from other more flamboyant EU leaders. “We will speak with one voice here with our European partners and our transatlantic allies, referring to the U.S. But, unlike other EU countries, there’s far more separation on key issues with the U.S. Germany insn’t likely to jump on the nuclear power bandwagon anytime soon.
