Former EU Commissioner Gunther Oettinger has sharply criticised his country. The former state premier said that Germany is sick and urgently needs to find a cure to recover. The politician also criticised his own party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Former EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger has been harshly critical of Germany. Oettinger complained about the lack of innovation and the lack of willingness for reforms compared to other countries. “For me, Germany is in decline, a country in decline, sick and in need of rehabilitation,” the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician said at the congress of Free Press Media Association, the umbrella organisation of newspaper publishers in Germany in Berlin.
The former EU commissioner believes the country needs to become faster and more innovative in implementing reforms. “If we are descending or in a downward spiral, we risk losing prosperity,” said the former minister president of Baden-Wurttemberg.
The political debate in Berlin is in no way adequate to the current challenges, the political situation is characterised by stagnation and a lackluster attitude. The federal government, however, is not solely responsible for the current state of the country, the opposition’s weakness is also a factor, Oettinger said criticising his own CDU party, which is part of the largest opposition group in the Bundestag together with the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU).
It is worth recalling that the German economy entered a technical recession last month after two consecutive quarters of contraction. It remains the only major world economy to contract this year, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which raises fears about the long-term future of Europe’s leading economy. There are growing concerns about the quality of the political debate in Germany and questions about the ability of political leaders to tackle the economic problems facing them.
