SPD CONFERENCE:GERMAN SOCIAL Democrat (SPD) Peer Steinbrück has warned of a "danger of renationalisation" unless European Union leaders find quick answers to the euro zone crisis.
On the final day of the SPD conference yesterday, Mr Steinbrück accused Chancellor Angela Merkel of delaying and experimenting with the euro zone’s future.
“Europe isn’t physics,” he said, a nod to Dr Merkel’s career before politics. “A collapse of the euro zone would quickly result in renationalisation . . . we have to find a new narrative that grabs the young generation and convinces our population that solidarity payments for Europe are the right thing.”
In his speech Mr Steinbrück, one-time finance minister under Dr Merkel, urged the SPD to reclaim the fruits of the still unpopular Schröder-era policies now enjoyed by the current chancellor.
“Where would Germany be today without the sometimes bitter reforms under Gerhard Schröder,” said Mr Steinbrück, calling on the SPD to show “more confidence about what has succeeded in the last 10 years”.
Two years after losing office, the SPD used its three-day conference in Berlin to move from self-reflection on the opposition banks to re-election mode.
After lengthy internal debate between the party’s left and centrist wings, SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel was given an enthusiastic welcome for the party’s “centre-left”strategy.
The best chance of the SPD returning to power was, he said, to revive links to unions while embracing business.
Mr Gabriel declined to go into specifics, leaving Mr Steinbrück to attempt to revive the Blair-Schröder “third way” rhetoric.
“The SPD is the connector between the strong and the weak,” he said, urging the party to resist plans to increase top tax rates. “But one cannot be allowed scare off the strong, otherwise this union won’t come together.”
The lukewarm applause for his address, however, suggests Mr Steinbrück, little loved by the SPD left, has some way to go to take on Chancellor Merkel in 2013. After three days of debate, Mr Gabriel is leading the pack.