Not all Germans believe in God,” said Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, “but they all believe in the Bundesbank.”
There is some truth to this, which is why it is not hard to understand the humiliation felt by the economically orthodox citizens of the bloc’s leading nation, as common policies come under attack from national capitals and even from Europe’s own institutions. Talk in German media is of deception, abuse and exploitation, with Berlin losing every battle and its citizens paying a hefty price to keep the eurozone intact. Pressure is mounting at home to push back, to score points in the national interest. Berlin’s ability to resist will be crucial to Europe’s fate.
First, it is important to understand why so many Germans feel victimised. The revered Bundesbank has been repeatedly outvoted at the European Central Bank. Until the euro’s introduction in 1999, it in effect conducted monetary policy for the entire bloc. Today, in the popular view, it is ignored, its stability-oriented approach replaced by an ECB policy that tries to compensate for failures in other policy areas.