Panel Discussion: Europe After the Bundestag Elections

The Europa-Union together with the Europe Direct of the City of Nuremberg and the City of Nuremberg invited to a panel discussion in the Nuremberg City Hall on Friday, March 28, 2025. The City of Nuremberg was represented as co-organizer by Andreas Krieglstein, Chairman of the CSU City Council parliamentary group. Krieglstein emphasised Nuremberg’s historical responsibility in his welcome address. Wolfgang Bücherl, Head of the European Commission’s Regional Representation for Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, stressed the extent to which the geopolitical situation in which Germany and the European Union (EU) operate has changed. Cheap labor from China, cheap energy from Russia and cheap security from the United States, as he put it in a nutshell, were a thing of the past. The panel, moderated by Thorsten Frank, Chairman of the Europaunion Bayern, included MEPs Markus Ferber (CSU) and Maria Noichl (SPD), Member of the Bundestag Dr. Anton Hofreiter (Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen) and Prof. Sandra Eckert from the Institute of Political Science. In her opening statement, Prof. Eckert argued that the incoming coalition government should work hard to speak with one voice in Brussels. Germany’s abstention on key votes such as the Supply Chain Act had destroyed trust and must not be repeated. Germany should shift attention away from import to investements, for example in key technologies and resources, in order to strengthen not only the German economy, but also the EU in a changed geopolitical environment. MEP Markus Ferber also emphasized the role of the future German government in ensuring the EU’s ability to act, which he saw particularly impaired by the weak executives in the European Council. Ferber expressed cautious optimism that a coalition of the willing would contribute to new dynamics. Maria Noichl, echoing what the previous speakers had said, said that the ‘ladybug coalition’ had to deliver and abstain from what by now is known as the ‘German vote’. She also called on the European People’s Party to stop joining forces with the right-wing parties in the European Parliament (EP), referring to EP votes that had watered down the green transformation. In his statement, Dr. Anton Hofreiter warned that Europe was confronted with two epochal breaks: the first epochal break was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the second epochal break was that the United States by now was willing to move borders by force. Accordingly, EU faces an immense need for action in the field of security and economic policy. In the ensuing exchange, the panel guests agreed on the importance of a Europe that is capable of acting in order to deal with multiple challenges.