Tricky weather: Germany's role in Europe is changing - by Peter Shrank
THE words “excitement” and “German presidency of the European Union” would not normally be uttered in the same breath. Yet such are the strange tastes of Europeans that the country's period in charge of the EU's agenda-setting presidency is being greeted with front-page news stories, animated televised discussions and a sort of dignified hoopla.
After a string of presidencies ranging from the disastrous (Luxembourg's, 2005) to the merely boring (Finland's, 2006), Germany's stint—which coincides with a confidence-boosting economic upswing and chairmanship of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial economies—sends out a message that, as an influence on world affairs, Germany is back. Many Europeans think all this can rescue the EU from its malaise. In the view of Bill Drozdiak, president of the American Council on Germany, this is Germany's big moment.
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