The announcement by CDU leader Friedrich Merz at the most recent federal party conference was very clear. „We will show our presence in Brussels again,“ promised the candidate for Chancellor. A Union-led federal government would again attend EU Council meetings more often, seek closer cooperation with neighbouring countries, and end the practice of the „German Vote,“ Merz emphasised. „We will be committed Europeans again.“

The fact that such an announcement was also overdue from the point of view of business would hardly have been anticipated at the beginning of the legislative period. The Ampel (traffic light) coalition parties wrote an extremely ambitious European chapter into their coalition agreement in 2021. Support for numerous reform steps was set out. There was even talk of a „further development of the EU into a federal European state.“

The reality of the past three years was more than sobering: The constant disagreements between the three coalition parties also led to abstentions in important votes in Brussels. This so-called German Vote did exist during Merkel's time – but not with such frequency and short-termism. Much to the annoyance of the other member states, the coalition repeatedly questioned legislative proposals that seemed to have long been agreed upon at the EU level. Notably – the phasing out end of combustion engines.

The new Federation of German Industries (BDI) President Peter Leibinger recently described the Ampel's European policy as „catastrophic“. The German Votes were in any case „a vote against German interests“, complained Leibinger, and demanded that the future federal government take on a leading role in the European Union again.

However, only a few concrete plans for the EU are listed in the CDU/CSU election manifesto. The usual key phrases can be found: Deepening the internal market, strengthening competitiveness, and reducing bureaucracy. Among other things, the Union proposes an „immediate halt to burdens“ for new and ongoing EU initiatives, and the measurement of bureaucracy costs by an independent European regulatory control council. Otherwise, the CDU/CSU offer little tangible, including in its demand for „reforms of institutions and working methods“ in Brussels.

At least the Union repeatedly expresses its scepticism about further steps towards integration. There should only be more Europe where Europe creates added value for everyone, the election manifesto states. „Our goal is a Europe that is regionally rooted, supported by the nation state, and legitimised at European level,“ is the vision.

The Union's possible coalition partners – in other words, the same three Ampel parties – are somewhat clearer in the European chapters of their election manifestos, albeit with very different priorities. All three parties want to deepen the internal market. While the Greens want to supplement this with a digital union in particular, the SPD is calling for a „real European social union“, including EU minimum standards for national basic security systems.

The Social Democrats overlap with the FDP in the hoped-for strengthening and interlinking of European defence policy. The SPD, Liberals and Greens can agree on a right of initiative for the EU Parliament, as well as on breaking up the veto rights in EU votes. Here, however, all three have their different ideas: The FDP speaks of qualified majority decisions in EU foreign and security policy, and the SPD would like to generally replace the principle of unanimity in the European Council and the Council of Ministers through a treaty reform. The Greens, on the other hand, state most clearly that unanimity must be abolished in the EU „in all policy areas“.

The Greens, who expressly reject national solo efforts in Europe in their election manifesto, are propagating perhaps the most radical vision of a future EU: A federal European Republic with its own constitution and additional resources of its own. The FDP, on the other hand, focuses less on visions in its European agenda, and more on a concrete plan to reduce bureaucracy: The Liberals are demanding that the reporting obligations from the Green Deal be completely abolished. The taxonomy, the CSRD, the EU supply chain law, and the circular economy action plan, are mentioned in this context. The FDP also has a reduction in the size of the EU Commission on its agenda.

All parties in the political centre in Germany are giving concrete thought to the EU enlargement process. In principle, everyone supports the inclusion of the countries of the Western Balkans, plus Ukraine and Moldova. The CDU/CSU proposes „intermediate stages“ for the candidate countries up to full membership. At the same time, the Union is explicitly promoting stronger cooperation with countries such as Norway, Switzerland and Great Britain, particularly in security and defence policy. A coalition between the Union and the SPD, FDP or Greens is unlikely to fall apart on this issue – even if the parties' EU ambitions are very different overall.