# taz.de -- Schäuble’s role in Brussels: Merkel’s bogeyman
> Chancellor Angela Merkel’s manner over the Greek conflict has been mostly
> obliging, while her finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble played the role of
> bad guy.
IMG Bild: „No“ to Schäuble.
BERLIN taz | A historic moment? As if! When the German Chancellor stepped
up to the microphone on Monday morning in Brussels, she was back in low-key
Merkel mode. Appearing unruffled, she presented the results of the crisis
summit: Greece would receive a new multi-billion bailout if it carried out
the toughest of financial cutbacks: „All in all, the advantages outweigh
the disadvantages.“ She said that she could advise the Bundestag to approve
the plan „with complete conviction“. And no, she was not considering
linking the ballot to a motion of confidence in her leadership.
The initial climax to this drama could hardly have been put in more sober
terms than those chosen by the Chancellor. The unity of the eurozone hung
in the balance. The leaders of the 19 EU states had debated for 17 hours.
They had argued and tussled, revoked traditional alliances then patched
them up again. But Merkel did not breathe a word about the fact that she
and her finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble had won all down the line. The
draconian austerity agreement signed by the Greek government could hardly
be called a compromise.
For Merkel, this was crucial. She knows that many MPs in the CDU and CSU
are at odds with a third bailout agreement. She desperately needed success
in Brussels in order to scrape together a majority at the Bundestag’s
special session on Friday.
In Berlin, Merkel’s speaker Steffen Seibert explained the agreement. A
Greek journalist asked whether the conditions would be a humiliation for
Athens. This „good agreement“, retorted Seibert, was one involving all
states. The Greek Syriza government had signed it, France had played a
major role, and so had Germany. Merkel’s speaker sold the whole deal along
the lines of an old political principle: victors must appear modest in
their hour of triumph.
In reality, Merkel smartly divided up the roles between herself and her
finance minister. While she always appeared obliging, Wolfgang Schäuble
flashed the torture instruments at the left-wing Syriza government. And in
the end, it agreed to unprecedented austerity measures.
## Harsh cutbacks
Schäuble’s manoeuvring began on Saturday afternoon when the finance
ministers of the Eurogroup met to prepare Sunday’s meeting with the heads
of state. He asked his state secretary to circulate a paper, which –
allegedly – reflected the German government’s position. On it, Schäuble’s
ministry sketched out two options for the Greek government to choose from
in addition to harsh cutbacks.
The first proposal was an external trust fund, into which Greece was meant
to transfer €50bn of assets – such as airport, ports or property. These
could then be privatised without the Greek parliament having the power to
prevent it.
The second proposal was even more controversial because it depicted a
horror scenario that the German government had avoided up to this point: in
the event that Greece could not get on top of its debts, a provisional exit
from the eurozone would be possible, a „temporary Grexit“.
## The Grexit bluff
Schäuble might as well have lobbed a burning torch into a gasoline depot
with his paper. Italy’s head of government Matteo Renzi railed against the
Germans’ obsession with economising (“Enough is enough“) and French
president François Hollande brusquely rejected the idea.
But the Grexit option was a mere bluff, and it did not figure much in the
rest of the summit meeting. Instead the government heads concentrated on
keeping Greece in the euro. However, the proposal had served its purpose.
By cracking the whip at the Greeks, Schäuble drove them further towards the
German position. This is supported by the fact that an almost identical
formulation was laid out in the closing statement of Schäuble’s trust fund
proposal, even though it amounted to a vote of no confidence in the Syriza
government.
On Monday morning, many European newspapers depicted Schäuble as Europe’s
bogeyman, a disciplinarian who had imposed a diktat on Greece. But this
view of things neglects Merkel’s role. At a federal press conference,
government speaker Seibert confirmed that both options in the paper were
coordinated with the Chancellor. A Grexit, however, was not the
government’s priority. „That was a possible Plan B“, said Seibert, in the
event that no agreement was reached, and if the Syriza government approved.
So Schäuble is not only Europe’s bogeyman: he’s also Merkel’s protective
shield.
Translation: Lucy Renner Jones
15 Jul 2015
## AUTOREN
DIR Ulrich Schulte
## TAGS
DIR taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
DIR taz international
DIR taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
DIR taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
DIR taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
DIR taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
## ARTIKEL ZUM THEMA
DIR Democracy and the Greek crisis: Breaking Europe’s Stunned Silence
No longer does anybody in Brussels dare to resist orders from Berlin. Do we
want a Europe run by decree? It’s time for debate.
DIR After the Euro Summit in Brussels: Thus fails Europe
Thanks to a loathsome alliance, Merkel and Schäuble have been able to
impose all of Germany’s demands on Greece. The result is a regime of
sanctions and coercion.
DIR Economist about the ECB and Greece: Like setting off a nuclear bomb
The ECB denying Greece emergency loans would be blackmail, writes the
economist Martin Hellwig. A crisis like 1931 could be created.
DIR Germany, Greece and the EU: Europe isn’t that German
What kind of a Europe do we want? Surely one that values solidarity. The
German course of austerity therapy has failed. It is time to correct the
mistakes.