Washington and New York are perhaps not the obvious places to visit, if you want to gauge the mood in Germany. But, in recent days, I’ve had the chance to talk to a few German politicians and senior civil servants at a dinner and a conference. What they had to say was very striking.
I have never known the German establishment be quite so open about the depth of Euroscepticism in their own nation. Normally, the Germans talk about Euroscepticism as some sort of nasty British disease – while stressing their own country’s level-headedness and “European vocation”. Not any more. “Germany is deeply disillusioned with Europe,” I was told by one senior figure (who is herself, very pro-European). “What is the problem?”, I asked. More or less anything you care to name, apparently. The Greek mess obviously tops the list. But the enlargement that took the EU from 15 members to 27 is still unpopular; European regulation is unpopular; French lectures on the need for Germans to spend more are unpopular.
The Greek crisis, however, has given German Euroscepticism both a focus and an outlet. The focus is outrage that German taxpayers are being called upon to support a Greek state that is regarded as corrupt and inefficient. And the outlet is the German constitutional court. I was told that one of the main reasons why Angela Merkel was so slow to move on the Greek bail-out, was for fear that it would be ruled unconstitutional. It still might be, apparently. Imagine what the markets will make of that.
For views and opinions on the European Union from Peter Spiegel, Joshua Chaffin, Alex Barker and Stanley Pignal, follow the 