Is it a big deal?
Well, for the German political apparatus, yes. For the German news media, yes. But for the regular guy on the street in Munich, or Amsterdam, or in some village in Spain? No.
Her position is mostly ceremonial....there for speeches, TV interviews, and to hand out awards. Beyond that....the selection doesn't really mean much.
Was it a close election? If you survey the numbers....Merkel had to call in some favors, and there was marginally (just around 10 extra votes) to get this five-year deal done. If those calls and favors hadn't been done? It would have been a massive collapse in confidence for Merkel and her vision.
Will it mean numerous interviews for von der Leyen with the German press? No doubt. I would imagine that she gets invited to at least a dozen public forums or discussion on German TV over the next six months, and the CDU tries to get as much 'pop and fizz' out of this as possible.
Any chance of the US-EU trade agreement coming back via van der Leyen? No. So about every month or two....Trump will go and aim the laser-pointer at something....talk up another trade problem and new trade tariff, and von der Leyen will talk how 'friends' don't tariff each other.
So other than remembering her name, and closeness of the ballot....the five years will simply pass without a lot of hype.
No comments:
Post a Comment