Friedrich Merz’s 100 Days of Failure

It should have been an omen of things to come when Friedrich Merz made history by almost failing to be elected as chancellor. Back in May, nearly 100 days ago, MPs in the German Bundestag cast their votes on whether to accept Merz as chancellor. In a situation unprecedented in post-war Germany, he lost by six votes, forcing parliament to try again. This time, he managed to limp over the finish line.

It was a humiliation Merz never truly recovered from. His government was weighed down by weakness and vulnerability before it even began. During his election campaign, he promised lower taxes, more growth, and tougher border controls. But so far, he has delivered very little. After almost three months in office, he has struggled to keep his head above water, battling coalition infighting, domestic stagnation, and public disillusionment. The German public—having not been that enthusiastic about Merz in the first place—are thoroughly unimpressed. Approval ratings for Merz’s first 100 days are far worse than his predecessor’s, Olaf Scholz. In fact, a mere 28% of Germans are satisfied with the work his government has done so far. On a personal level, two-thirds of voters see Merz as untrustworthy—no wonder, as he kicked off his chancellorship by bypassing parliament to introduce a €500 billion spending programme, which never once appeared in his party’s manifesto.

Compounding the low public mood is the dismal state of Germany’s economy. The country’s growth has stalled, with GDP falling by 0.1% from Q1 to Q2 this year, and annual GDP growth still sitting below pre-pandemic levels. This is only set to get worse. A poll of German executives found that 59% of them believed that Germany’s economic prospects would continue to deteriorate over the next 12 months. Sales from all its major car companies plummeted this year, and exports to the U.S. are also in free-fall. Energy prices remain eye-wateringly high, some of the highest in Europe, spurred on by Germany’s pursuit of carbon neutrality. Before the election, Merz had gestured towards reconsidering the phase-out of nuclear energy, but soon backtracked, declaring it unfeasible. Instead, Merz’s government has committed itself to Net Zero. In his first official address to the Bundestag, Merz expressed his enthusiasm for continuing the Energiewende, pushing the adoption of renewable energy and making Germany carbon neutral by 2045. Any meaningful shift towards cheaper or more reliable energy will be hamstrung by the CDU’s coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD). The SPD, holding the vice-chancellorship and key ministries like finance and defence, has been pressing to keep much of previous chancellor Olaf Scholz’s policy programme intact—from costly Net Zero targets to generous welfare spending. This is despite clear signs that many German voters would prefer their government take a rightward turn.