 Germany's Conservative CDU Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet said on Monday that his party had still wanted to lead a new government. He sounded considerably less confident after saying, on Sunday evening, that everything would be done to form one. He disputed the idea that the election gave the social Democrats a clear mandate from the election results. Germany is commencing on potentially lengthy negotiations for its next chancellor. This is after social Democrats narrowly won Merkel in an election. We're being joined by Scott Lucas Emeritus Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham. Thank you very much, Scott, for joining us. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. Great. So, I mean, everybody is talking about Merkel and, of course, the win. Merkel's party has been castigated. We see that members of the CDU or activists of the CDU are very angry. But let's take a look at Merkel's reign. And she's been in that office for 16 years. And finally, she's going to be buying out to this candidate who's going to, might be working with a three-part government. But let's look at Merkel. There are people who believe that she's done well. And there are other people who actually do not agree with how her government has been run. What is your take? Well, I think there's always going to be political differences. Merkel is from the Christian Democratic Union, which has led Germany for 30 to 39 years. But it is a central right party. So if you support, say, the Social Democrat Party, which is more of a central left party, more in terms of loss, as it were, economic neoliberalism, and more for an idea of a social democratic approach. Yes, you disagree with Merkel. You disagree with some of the financial policies, the economic policies. But I think beyond parties and beyond what I've loved, what you've seen under Merkel has been a remarkable period of stability for Germany at the heart of Europe. And as you mentioned, she's been in power for 16 years since 2005. But think about what's happened during that period. We had the great recession of 2008-2009. I think we lost that connection with Scott. So we're going to try again. Scott, can you hear me? Well, we'll move to the next story. And Scott, can you hear me? Are you there? Yes, I can hear you. Let's see if we can come back. So as I was saying, there's been a great deal of stability in Germany, missed instability in Europe and in the world. And I think Merkel has been associated with that, not as much the Christian Democratic Party, but Merkel is a leader. Think, for example, for the issue that crossed between Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the rest of the world, which is the refugee crisis. That Germany was the one country that stepped up the most to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees, especially from Syria. And that was Merkel that led that. That even though she was a relatively conservative politician, unlike other conservative politicians that closed their doors to refugees, she welcomed them. And I think that is something which is a distinctive policy beyond party associated with her. And it also associates a Germany that does not want to be seen as one party or the other. But I think we'll try to continue to embrace coalition government. Now, we see that there seems to be an agreement to be rich for a coalition government, just like I said, with the Greens and the liberal free Democrats before Christmas. Now, does this mean that there might just be more time for Merkel to be in office until these negotiations are properly done? I think Merkel was due to step down in December of this year. I think that's the timeframe for the handover to the next chancellor. I think these negotiations will be completed by then. So she will not stay on as a caretaker as it were. I think although the Christian Democratic Union, her party has the first right to try to form a coalition, given its historic low, only 21% in the elections, it will be handed over to the Social Democratic Party with, as you mentioned, a coalition with the Greens and with the liberals. And the big difference there is the Green Party, that it has risen in recent years in Germany to become the third largest party. And that in large part is because of the environmental issues. And I think that's a signifier of how much climate change is changing the nature of politics in Europe, as well as the rest of the world. Well, let's also talk about the social Democrats who are going to be the first, it's going to be the first time since 2005 that they'll be leading any government. What difference or what remarkable changes do you think they bring to the table? Well, we have seen them in power before. I mean, they were in power between 1998, 2005, under Gerhard Schroeder. As I mentioned, they are a little bit less free market, more for social intervention in the economy. They're a little bit more in tune with a European approach, a more, not relaxed, but a more open European approach to the economy rather than a Germany-first approach. But I think in some ways, you're not going to see a huge difference in the sense that Germany, especially since unification in 1991, has been very much committed to the idea of stability and progress across right and left. Now, there are a couple of exceptions here. There's Der Linka, which is the party on the left, sort of the ancestors, the descendants of the communists, and then you have the AFD, Alliance for Deutschland, which is the far right. Both of those parties lost votes. So I think the message to the SPD, the social Democrats and others is, Germany does not want to go to either extreme. They want a very much middle-of-the-road approach, a little bit more emphasis maybe on social assistance, on social development, a little bit less on the free market, but one in which Germany is seen as the leader of Europe precisely because of its stability rather than following, say, a right or left path. Let's talk about Scholz and what he brings to the table, because he has also promised that his government would offer the United States continuity in the transatlantic relations that has always been. So everybody, all eyes are on him, obviously, and wondering where he's going to be staring the ship to. Well, I think it's really interesting, the coincidence of Olaf Scholz coming to the lead, or probable lead here, at a critical time for the European Union for two reasons. And I think he sent a message out on the two issues. I think the first is, before we talk about the US, we talk about the UK. And Scholz basically said, you've left the European Union. Fine, you're out. Don't think Europe is going to fall apart because you're gone. That was that message today as we sit here facing problems even getting petrol in the country where I am. But I think the message towards the US is certainly no one's going to say, we don't want to be friends with the United States, we don't want this alliance, which has been there since 1945. But I think the question for Germany and for France and other European powers is, do you proceed with a more independent Europe, one which doesn't follow the American lead? I think the trend has been there for the past 20 years, whichever party you've seen in Germany, whichever shift you've seen in the European Union. But I think you're going to see Germany sort of almost competing with France in terms of defining a future direction for Europe, which is alongside the United States, but not following behind it. Finally, before I let you go, Scott, many are already wondering what's going to happen in terms of who takes over from Merkel. Of course, the fingers are pointed at President Macron, and they're wondering how ready he is to take over the EU and replace Merkel. I don't think you talk about a single individual taking over Europe. Well, to lead, of course, leading the EU, that's what we mean. I don't even think leading the EU. And I need to emphasize why this is the case. I think Macron is a forceful personality. He's ambitious, but he's having issues even maintaining the lead in his own country. His party lost a share of the vote in regional elections. And I think Macron and France, if they are seen as overly ambitious, they will fall. The key thing about the EU is it transcends any one leader in any one country, even Merkel. So I think far more important than Emmanuel Macron and France is the actual head of the European Union or the European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who happens to be Germany, a German. But more than being German, I think you're going to see looking at von der Leyen and other European officials in a transnational way, one in which Germany and France will be seen as trying to support that rather than taking the lead from them. Well, thank you very much, Scott Lucas, for speaking with us. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. Pleasure to be here. All right. Hello. Hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.