{"id":116740,"date":"2024-11-02T17:05:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T15:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=116740"},"modified":"2024-11-02T10:28:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T08:28:48","slug":"02-05-107","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=116740","title":{"rendered":"Europe&#8217;s German Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/images\/gatestone-logo-1000.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"50%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/21075\/europe-german-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Europe&#8217;s German Problem<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong> Drieu Godefridi<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>With Merkel gone, Germany finds itself on an accelerating trajectory of impoverishment.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>One might have hoped that the German Right would learn a few lessons from the Merkel disaster. It has not.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The European People&#8217;s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament &#8212; in which the CDU is a member party &#8212; appointed Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission. Under her leadership of the European Union, the economy is collapsing, industry is disappearing and Islamism is proliferating. Supposedly, all of that does not matter because Europeans have the Holy Grail: the &#8220;energy transition&#8221; to a &#8220;zero-carbon&#8221; Europe, and more regulations than all the other civilizations combined.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Unfortunately, that policy is an absolute myth. &#8220;Zero-carbon Europe&#8221;, a physical impossibility, will never happen. Even if it did, it would make no difference to the global explosion in CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions. Europe accounts for just 8% of global CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions. Even if Europe ceased to exist, it would make little difference to global CO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions. They would continue to grow on all five continents.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>To get Germany and Europe out of this rut, would it not be more constructive for the CDU to consider governing with the AfD?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/pics\/5119.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>The European People&#8217;s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament &#8212; in which the CDU is a member party &#8212; appointed Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission. Under her leadership of the European Union, the economy is collapsing, industry is disappearing and Islamism is proliferating. Supposedly, all of that does not matter because Europeans have the Holy Grail: the &#8220;energy transition&#8221; to a zero-carbon Europe, and more regulations than all the other civilizations combined. Pictured: Von der Leyen at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on July 18, 2024. (Photo by Frederick Florin\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Today, Germany embraces the ideologies of &#8220;green energy&#8221; and a zero-carbon society &#8212; a society that no longer emits CO<sub>2<\/sub>. Germans seem serious about ideology; they seem serious about everything. Once they buy into an ideology, it might be hard to change their mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">This is how Chancellor Angela Merkel came to power (2005-2021). Many forget that she did not emerge from the extreme green left, although judging by her record, one might think so. She came, in fact, from the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/thisvsthat.io\/cdu-vs-csu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDU\/CSU<\/a>, Germany&#8217;s &#8220;center-right&#8221; party.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Merkel&#8217;s record is clear: 1) the demographic\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/africans-weigh-in-on-germanys-refugee-policy-debacle\/a-44334307\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Islamization of Germany<\/a>\u00a0by opening its doors to a flood of migrants alien to German culture, and apparently with less than no interest in absorbing it; 2) the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/18829\/german-environmentalists-gazprom-putin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">subordination<\/a>\u00a0of Germany&#8217;s energy to Russia, 3) the destruction of Germany&#8217;s\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2011\/may\/09\/angela-merkel-green-energy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nuclear heritage<\/a>. If Merkel had have been an agent of the Russian regime &#8212; which\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/international\/germany\/new-book-suggests-angela-merkel-was-closer-to-communism-than-thought-a-899768.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trained<\/a>\u00a0her &#8212; she might have acted no differently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">With Merkel gone, Germany finds itself on an accelerating trajectory of impoverishment.\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sueddeutsche.de\/politik\/wirtschaftspolitik-konjunktur-robert-habeck-rezession-deutschland-lux.XNBMZaSCQzoUn27YGweh3e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">According<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0<i>S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung<\/i>, the German Economy Ministry now projects a 0.2% GDP contraction for 2024, reversing its earlier prediction of 0.3% growth. Germany also faces\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/hir.harvard.edu\/germanys-energy-crisis-europes-leading-economy-is-falling-behind\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">industrial annihilation<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">BASF, for instance, a flagship of Germany&#8217;s industrial sector since 1865, symbolizes the nation&#8217;s manufacturing strength. With nearly 400 production sites across 80 countries, its heart remains in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where it operates a vast complex with 200 plants and employs around 39,000 people. However, this hub has recently become a focal point for BASF&#8217;s challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Over the past two years, the company has shut down one of its two ammonia units and idled several others at this location due to their lack of competitiveness, resulting in the loss of 2,500 jobs,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/cen.acs.org\/business\/Germanys-chemical-industry-survive-gas\/101\/i19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">explains<\/a>\u00a0Chemical and Engineering News. BASF also experienced a significant decline in 2023, with sales dropping by 21.1% and adjusted earnings plunging by 60.1%. Adding to these woes, BASF recently announced plans to cut costs by an additional $1.1 billion in Ludwigshafen, foreshadowing further job cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">As a result of this industrial disaster, the German establishment is confronting a democratic\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/sep\/01\/success-far-right-afd-shows-east-west-germany-drifting-further-apart\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">revolt<\/a>\u00a0by growing segments of its people, as shown by the recent regional elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, which saw the surge of the right-wing AfD party, which demands that Germany say goodbye to the green energy myths that are destroying its industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">One might have hoped that the German right would learn a few lessons from the Merkel disaster. It has not. Federal polls and the recent regional elections seem to agree,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welt.de\/politik\/deutschland\/article253580436\/Umfragen-Nur-noch-drei-Prozent-fuer-die-Ampel-aber-auch-Merz-kein-Zugpferd.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">predicting<\/a>\u00a0a disaster for the left, while the center-right CDU\/CSU and the right-wing AfD are on the ascent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">While logic demands that the center-right and the right, which together have a large majority, govern &#8212; their policy convergences, whether on migration or energy, are numerous &#8212; the center-right has made clear its absolute\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/germany-in-thuringia-merz-repeats-cdu-wont-ally-with-afd\/a-70010751\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">refusal<\/a>\u00a0to govern with the AfD, in any way whatsoever.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">This is forcing the CDU to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welt.de\/politik\/deutschland\/plus253738674\/Migrationssteuerung-Wie-Schwarz-Gruen-sich-jetzt-formiert-und-die-Asylpolitik-umkrempeln-will.html?source=puerto-reco-2_ABC-V41.4.C_FCM_p35_extra_row\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">consider governing<\/a>\u00a0tomorrow with&#8230; the Greens, Europe&#8217;s most radical extreme left (along with the Belgian and French environmentalists) &#8212; the party most\u00a0<i>opposed<\/i>\u00a0to the CDU on the issues of migration, the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.environmentandsociety.org\/tools\/keywords\/germanys-green-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">environment<\/a>\u00a0and prioritizing nuclear energy. The movement responsible for the destruction of Germany&#8217;s energy resources, and a direct\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/18330\/russia-funding-environmental-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accomplice<\/a>\u00a0of the Russian regime and under its patronage &#8212; the Greens &#8212; who signed and celebrated the dismantling of Germany&#8217;s nuclear power stations in the middle of the war in Ukraine after destruction of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline; nuclear power stations that were still operational and could have continued to produce cheap energy for years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Is the CDU actually preparing to close the borders with those who want to abolish borders; to send back unintegrable migrants despite the Greens&#8217; opposition to deportation; to lower energy prices with the authors of the very policies that caused the prices to explode in the first place, and to counter Islamism with the help of its most dedicated allies?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">This collaboration is being facilitated by a massive ideological convergence: both the CDU and the Greens believe in the necessity of the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agora-energiewende.org\/about-us\/the-german-energiewende\/q1-what-is-the-german-energiewende\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Energiewende<\/a>\u00a0(&#8220;energy transition&#8221;). The elimination of fossil fuels and nuclear power is to be replaced by the &#8220;renewable energies&#8221; &#8212; mainly wind and solar &#8212; which are intermittent, often unaffordable and of limited practical use. Wind and solar are massively impacted by weather conditions. Solar panels produce less on cloudy days, and wind turbines generate less during calm periods. This variability makes it difficult to ensure a consistent energy output.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The center-right CDU supports the market economy, the Atlantic alliance and German industry &#8212; but also adheres to environmentalists&#8217; ideology. That view helps to explain why the European People&#8217;s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament &#8212; in which the CDU is a member party &#8212; appointed Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission. Under her leadership of the European Union, the economy is collapsing, industry is disappearing and Islamism is proliferating. Supposedly, all of that does not matter because Europeans have the Holy Grail: the &#8220;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/thinktank\/en\/document\/EPRS_BRI(2024)762409#:~:text=Energy%20transition%20is%20central%20to,sources%20and%20increased%20energy%20efficiency.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">energy transition<\/a>&#8221; to a &#8220;zero-carbon&#8221; Europe, and more regulations than all the other civilizations combined.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Unfortunately, that policy is an absolute myth. &#8220;Zero-carbon Europe&#8221;, a\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thegwpf.org\/content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EU-Climate-Policy-Failure.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">physical impossibility<\/a>, will never happen. Even if it did, it would make no difference to the global explosion in CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions. Europe accounts for just\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/statistics-explained\/index.php?title=Greenhouse_gas_emission_statistics_-_carbon_footprints#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20global%20CO%E2%82%82-emissions%20were%20estimated%20to%20amount,which%20represents%20around%208%20%25%20of%20worldwide%20CO%E2%82%82-emissions.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">8% of global CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions<\/a>. Even if Europe ceased to exist, it would make little difference to global CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions. They would continue to grow on all five continents. The destruction of European industry by the German right would have no effect on the climate &#8212; zero.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Today, with environmentalists touting the &#8220;zero-carbon society&#8221; and &#8220;100% renewable energy,&#8221; Germany has locked itself in myths hardly better than the\u00a0<i>Lebensraum<\/i>\u00a0of the previous century.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Today, as yesterday, these myths risk precipitating the ruin not only of Germany, but of the whole of Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">To get Germany and Europe out of this rut, would it not be more constructive for the CDU to consider governing with the AfD?<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><i><strong>Drieu Godefridi<\/strong> is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. He is the author of<\/i>\u00a0<a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Green-Reich-Global-Warming-Tyranny-ebook\/dp\/B081H2MB37\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Green Reich<\/a><i>\u00a0(2020).<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Europe&#8217;s German Problem Drieu Godefridi With Merkel gone, Germany finds itself on an accelerating trajectory of impoverishment.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 One might have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=116740"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116767,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116740\/revisions\/116767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=116740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=116740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=116740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}