Europe will just have to get used to life without Angela Merkel

No matter what happens in next year’s German elections, it looks like Angela Merkel will never again wield the power she’s enjoyed recently in the EU, writes Ashoka Mody

N ext year, Germany will hold a federal election, and the new Bundestag will choose the country’s next chancellor. Whether or not Angela Merkel retains the role — at the moment, things are not looking good for her or her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) — one thing is certain: Germany’s chancellor will no longer be de facto chancellor of Europe.

That will profoundly change how Europe works — some of it for the better. But the disruption could be nasty.