Germany is not only Europe’s strongest economy, it also an export-oriented one, No. 2 in the world after China, and as such very interested in solvent trading partners. “Germans are quite aware of the economic advantages they take out of the eurozone,” says DIW expert Fichtner. “But they also recognize the political and historic responsibility they bear for a peaceful and united Europe, and they see the euro as a stabilizing force.”
But his colleague, Wohlgemuth, disagrees. “I see a growing unease within the German population over the prospect of more bailouts coming our way. There is no political party yet trying to capitalize on that sentiment, but many here see the euro as a failed experiment, and the aversion against EU authorities in Brussels will increase. I think it is taken as a fact: We’ve got more problems with the euro than we would have without it."
