The German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, yesterday found himself in the unusual position of defending his government against the charge that it lacked enthusiasm for European integration.
During a Bundestag debate on this week's EU summit in Cardiff, opposition leaders accused the chancellor of striking an unconvincing pose as a Eurosceptic in order to win votes in September's federal election.
Dr Kohl has been demanding a change in the way the EU raises its budget so that Germany pays less in future. But Ms Heide-Marie Wieczorek-Zeul, for the opposition Social Democrats, said if Dr Kohl was unhappy with the financial state of the EU, he had only himself to blame.
"It has been the policy of this government to advance Europe by having Germany pay more," she said. Dr Kohl insisted every EU member-state defended its national interests and added he was determined to avoid the creation of "a centralised European state". With just three months to go before the election, an opinion poll published this week showed Dr Kohl heading for a resounding defeat. The Allensbach survey showed the chancellor more than 13 points behind his (SPD) challenger, Mr Gerhard Schroder.
The survey suggested that the SPD would win 44.4 per cent of the vote. Dr Kohl's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), would win 31.1 per cent.
The chancellor was behind in the polls at the same stage of the 1994 campaign but fought back impressively to regain power with a tiny majority of 10 seats.
"I don't see much of a chance for the conservatives any more. Kohl was more popular than his party in 1994. But now he's dragging the Christian Democrats down," said Mr Manfred Gullner, head of the Forsa polling group. This week's poll was especially bleak for Dr Kohl as it indicates he will not even benefit from the economic recovery in Germany over recent months. The Frankfurt stock market is booming, big firms are reporting record profits and companies such as Volkswagen and Daimler Benz have delighted shareholders with their recent worldwide shopping sprees.
Germany's massive jobless total fell dramatically last month, which ought to have given his poll ratings a boost. Unfortunately for him, the announcement came the day after the Eschede rail disaster, which dominated every news bulletin.
The outcome of September's election may hang on the performance of the smaller parties. Both the Greens, hoping to ally with the SPD, and Dr Kohl's allies in the Liberal Free Democrats (FDP) are in danger of losing all their seats. If the smaller parties fare badly, the SPD and the CDU could form a grand coalition, an arrangement Dr Kohl says he will have nothing to do with. If present polling trends continue, such a coalition would be led by Mr Schroder, making him the chancellor to lead Germany into the next millennium.
