Editorial Board

What Germany Wants Isn't What Europe Needs

If Angela Merkel is returned to power, she needs to broaden her country's idea of its place in the EU and the world.

September 19, 2017 at 5:30 AM UTC

By The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

Pondering her next move.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

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If polls are correct, Angela Merkel is on track to win a record fourth term as German chancellor on Sept. 24. The temptation, after such a long run of electoral success, is to keep the formula unchanged and carry on giving the voters what they want. The trouble is, what makes sense for Germany and its people isn't quite what's needed by the European Union as a whole.

Germans want stability and prosperity, and they have both. But the German model, combined with the economic rigidity of Europe's single-currency system, isn't conducive to the success of the rest of the EU.