Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s Berlin republic is a European Germany, in the rich, positive sense in which the great novelist had come to use the term. It is free, civilized, democratic, law-bound, socially and environmentally conscious.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s far from perfect, obviously, but as good as any other big country in Europe \u201d\u201c and the best Germany we\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n
Yet because of the crisis of the euro zone this European Germany finds itself, unwillingly, at the centre of a German Europe. No one can seriously doubt that Germany is calling the shots in the euro zone. The reason there is a fiscal compact treaty agreed by 25 European Union member states is that Berlin wanted it. Desperate, impoverished Greeks are being told \u201cdo their homework\u201d\u009d by Germans. More extraordinary still, the German Chancellor is now telling French voters who to vote for in their own presidential election, through a series of campaign appearances with President Nicolas Sarkozy. Everyone says Europe is being led by \u201cMerkozy\u201d\u009d but the reality is more like \u201cMerkelzy.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n