The idea that the country has an iron grip over southern European economies is too often used as a convenient excuse for others not getting their house in orderFor once, politicians in France, demonstrators in Spain and newspaper columnists in Britain all agree: Europe has become a German colony. German dominance, based on economic overachievement, means the rest of the continent now lives under the yoke of Teutonic austerity politics. In this view, Syriza’s win in the Greek elections is less the product of decades of domestic political failure than a rebellious act of defiance against a sinister oppressor.No wonder, then, that some commentators have tried to pre-emptively defend the new Greek government against the inevitable attack by Angela Merkel, the “most monstrous western European leader of this generation”. The Telegraph’s Charles Moore saw Syriza as the “logical, desperate response” to a situation that is “more like a colonial than a democratic one”, and even the Guardian’s Europe editor wrote that Syriza’s win “underlines public rejection of the policies prescribed mainly if not exclusively by Berlin in recent years”. It may sound more like Star Wars than political analysis, but the idea that Merkel is somehow controlling the leaders of the other 27 EU member states is now common currency. Related: Syriza’s historic win puts Greece on collision course with Europe Even at the highest level of European politics, Germany has not always been successful in pushing through its agenda Continue reading...
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