The Christian-democratic minister president of the German federal region of Baden-Württemberg, Günther Oettinger, will become the next German EU-Commissioner.
The man, here on a photo with Barroso, isn't known for much in the Federal Republic of Germany (despite the way he speaks), but his promotion for EU-Commissioner proves the trust Chancellor Merkel has in him.
The German TV news told that he seemed to have underlined his abilities in economic policies during the coalition negotiations, but apart from that he does not really have a strong policy profile on the national scale. From his CV you can see that his main policy qualification was in media policies, but nobody would mention this when asked about Oettinger.
For the first time he appeared on the national sphere in 2005 when he became minister president, and the only time he became really seen on this level was when he defended former Nazi Hans Filbinger, an affair in which he lost much credibility in the country.
When you look at his CV (or here), there are neither hints to any international or European experience nor any information about his language skills. And from all televised appearances of Oettinger I have got the impression that he is unable to communicate, something that would be most needed in a European Commission that wants to reach out to the people and peoples of the Union.
I think that is one of the worst choices one could have made for EU-Commissioner, and the Twitter reactions are also mainly negative. Even people who voted for the Christian Democrats or who support the present coalition seem to largely share this opinion.
So the only reasons to promote him for this position could be his technocratic skills and the trust Angela Merkel seems to have in him - or they want to get rid of him from Baden-Württemberg, one of the two economically most successful federal regions of Germany, with relevant power in the German second chamber.
Sorry, European Union, but Germany is sending a failure to Brussels - I hope he will not get an important portfolio (which is an unlikely hope, though...)!
The issue in euroblogs and German blogs: Kosmopolito, Europa-transparent, Lars Haise, Grahnlaw, Jean Quatremer, student86
Ursulas Sprechpuppen kommen
3 hours ago
1 comments:
Sounds too bad!
I think Merkel wants to get rid of him, but then what a pity. Hope he doesn't prevent Germany from being a motor of integration. The question is: Will he change the Commission or will the Commission change him? Let's hope he gets europeanized, never is too late.
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