Mutti the peacekeeper

No leader is indispensable, but it does feel like the future of Europe stands or falls with Angela Merkel. She’s been the godmother of the European Union for almost 15 years, and other leaders have learnt to accept one unspoken rule: Merkel is the adjudicator. Her aura of supreme power infuriated Nicolas Sarkozy, who wanted it for himself. Greece’s leftist leader, Alexis Tsipras, fumed that Merkel wanted to make his country a vassal state, ruled by Berlin and the gnomes of Frankfurt. But now she’s at risk of losing her power, and even her enemies fear that her absence will pull Europe in different and conflicting directions.

One newly elected European leader once explained Merkel’s role in Europe to me. He arrived in Brussels for a crisis summit, and wasn’t sure that the currency union would live to fight another day. His anxiety got bigger during the long dinner meeting. Several leaders were in multiple shouting matches. Two were tipsy. One had spilled the béarnaise over his trousers and sprayed the room with vinegar and tarragon. Another had to leave for what everyone suspected was an appointment with a mistress. But the room suddenly turned quiet when ‘Mother started to speak’.

The EU has been an unhappy family, but Mutti Merkel has brought unity and peace to its high table. That’s all the more remarkable, since she seldom had much to say. Like all German politicians, Merkel was unimaginative about how to stop the financial rot from spreading to countries like Italy. Often, she was neither here nor there. But she had an asset that most leaders can only dream of — authority. When she talked, others listened. The squabbling stopped. Without her, who will have this effect?

Emmanuel Macron is a young man in a hurry, and he draws the support of other radicals like Jean-Claude Juncker.