German leadership vs. European powerlessness
As the refugee drama escalates, Europe-bashing also increases. Voices of outrage grow louder: at best, the European Union is being criticized for the lack of action and at worst, it is being accused of incompetence and powerlessness when dealing with the refugee crisis.
During the Greek crisis, one meeting of ministers followed the next, and special summits were held on a weekly basis. But in the refugee crisis, nothing has been done for weeks. In August, officials in Brussels went where they always go: on vacation. And even now, the sluggish bureaucratic system in Brussels is still moving along slowly. The EU has yet to come up with coherent and effective answers.
Brussels can't do everything
On the other hand, it's unfair to blame just the EU. Brussels cannot take care of the decisive question – where the numerous refugees will be accommodated. The sovereign EU states have reserved the right to regulate such matters on their own. They are failing on a grand scale with regard to reaching at least one agreement on a voluntary refugee quota. Many member states - despite the European canon of values – just don't want to accept any refugees. You can't beat that mix of powerlessness and cynicism.
The Greek crisis has already shown that individual states are more reliable than the EU Commission and the Brussels circuit when it comes to addressing issues in a halfway acceptable manner. And let's not delude ourselves: the approval of all 19 euro nations was officially needed to pass the bailout measures for Greece - but without Germany's guidance, it would not have happened.
And that is why the current refugee crisis, which is much more dramatic on a humanitarian level than Greece's financial and economic crisis, shows that no answers can be expected from such a large alliance of countries. Of course, this comes as no surprise, as interests and egos within the EU vary, just like their finances and state structures.
Germans want to help
Germany is expecting more than 800,000 refugees this year. When these figures were made public, they were first met with the usual whiny cacophony of responses like: How is that going to work? Or: Germany is already overwhelmed and anyhow, what about the others? What are they doing about the situation?
But look at the touching images from Munich this week – the storm of helpers who are providing assistance to the newcomers. That is how a country that can and must help should react.
Other countries admire the Germans' commitment, especially Great Britain, whose prime minister emphasized for days that his country would not accept more refugees. David Miliband, former foreign secretary and Cameron's old rival, tweeted an image of German soccer fans in different stadiums holding up banners with words of solidarity for the refugees written on them. Miliband had two words for this picture: German leadership.
More German unilateralism, please
That is exactly the point: The others are unable or unwilling and Germany does indeed have the funds and the means. This irks Brussels centralists who are worried about overall European structures and fear a renaissance of strong nation states. They do not wish to tolerate unilateral action - and certainly not from Germany.
These critics, however, have overlooked that fact that unusual events require a different approach, one that does not correspond to the EU's supranational norms, but - despite all the problems and adversities - is and will be more effective than any half-hearted and time-consuming compromises that would have come out of EU-wide negotiations.
Germany should and must lead the way in the refugee crisis, which will be with us for a long while, perhaps years. The scope of the situation is still unclear. But in retrospect, history will show that Berlin, and not Brussels, made decisions to move ahead and took the necessary measures.
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