German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at the EU Headquarters on November 22, 2012 in Brussels.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- In this exclusive interview, the German chancellor opens up with the FT
- Tells why she went into politics and reveals her wry sense of humor
- She is called a Machtfrau in Germany -- a woman of power in a male world
- Her favorite expression is "step by step". "There is no alternative" is another
(Financial Times) -- For a woman who is seen around the world as a disciplinarian, given to lecturing her European partners on the dangers of drowning in debt, the most surprising thing about Angela Merkel is her irrepressible sense of humour. It is hardly something you would expect from the chancellor of Germany when she greets you at the door of her office with a businesslike handshake and marches you smartly to a plain working table, boasting no more than a pot of coffee to serve to her guests.
The former scientist -- daughter of a Protestant clergyman, brought up under communist rule in East Germany, who now dominates not only the domestic politics of her reunited homeland but also the interminable crisis-management of the EU -- is cool and controlled. She thinks carefully before answering questions, and weighs all her words.
In countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain in southern Europe, where drastic austerity measures are blamed on the German chancellor, she has been lampooned by furious demonstrators as a jackbooted Nazi. Yet in northern Europe she is respected in many countries -- including neighbouring France -- above their own domestic politicians, according to a recent survey.
She appears not to notice either way. She is called a Machtfrau in Germany -- a woman of power -- who has managed to get to the top as an outsider in a male-dominated world, removing all her potential rivals on the way and now revelling in popularity ratings ahead of any other politician in the land. But she does not spell out big visions, and she does not make emotional speeches.
Her favourite expression is "step by step". "There is no alternative" is another. And for the past three years her catchphrase has been: "If the euro fails, then Europe will fail." Fixing the crisis in the eurozone has become the touchstone of her entire political career. It is a historic challenge, but she tackles it as a fundamental scientific problem to be solved, stubbornly and consistently. "There is no big bazooka," she insisted, when David Cameron, UK prime minister, unwisely called for one. The debt crisis took years to take shape, and it will take years to resolve, she says. "Step by step".
She was described in a profile last week in the left-leaning magazine Der Spiegel -- no great admirer of conservative politicians -- as "relentlessly matter-of-fact". It suits her public image, always dressed in the same combination of buttoned-up coloured blazers and trousers. She does not pay much attention to fashion, either.
Yet the laughter lines round her eyes betray a constant temptation to see the funny side of life.
. . .
In her office, overlooking a windswept square at the Reichstag in central Berlin, I congratulate the chancellor on her overwhelming re-election as party leader by her Christian Democratic Union -- with almost 98 per cent of the vote at the annual party conference in Hanover.
It was very nice and unexpected, she says. No, she wasn't exactly embarrassed. She was "flabbergasted".
But when I suggest that many politicians dread their party conferences and would do anything to stay away, she comes back quick as a flash: "Well, that is rather difficult when you are party chairman." A very straight look from those clear grey eyes, and the hint of a grin.
Her humour can be mischievous. According to those who know her best, she is a brilliant mimic, delighted to take off (in private) other politicians and world leaders she knows, such as Nicolas Sarkozy, former French president, or Barack Obama.
"She has a very dry sense of humour," says her biographer Margaret Heckel. "In private, she can be extremely funny. She can entertain a whole room by herself."
Merkel can also use her sense of the ridiculous to devastating effect. Last year, when she was asked at a press conference in Brussels if she "trusted" Silvio Berlusconi, then Italian prime minister, she said nothing, but simply raised her eyes to the ceiling. She turned with an impish smile to Sarkozy, beside her, who giggled -- and then she delivered a careful diplomatic response. Berlusconi resigned six days later.
No one seriously disputes that Merkel is today the most powerful politician in Europe. Forbes magazine just declared her the second most powerful figure in the world, after President Obama. She is suitably self-deprecating. As head of government of the biggest economy in Europe, that naturally gives a certain weight to her decisions, she says. But she doesn't take such polls too seriously. They are not relevant to her political activity, she says, grinning again.
With Barack Obama and other world leaders at the Nato summit in Chicago in May
After seven years in office as German chancellor, and 12 as leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Angela Merkel is at the height of her power. She is the first woman to hold either of those jobs, to the constant amazement of the men she has overtaken in the process. She is also the second-longest-serving national leader in the European Union, after Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg.
"The Anglo-Saxon world does not understand her, and has never rated her as a result," says Peter Ludlow, historian of the European Council in Brussels. "But people slowly realise she has been around for a long time, and pulls all the strings."
It is not simply experience that is the secret of her influence. "It helps if you are the most intelligent person at the table, and also much the best prepared," says a senior former European ambassador. That is a quality she shares with Margaret Thatcher, a fellow scientist (Baroness Thatcher studied chemistry, Merkel studied physics). But the chancellor does not relish such comparisons. She is much less ideologically conservative, and much less strident, than her British predecessor.