Speaking to the BBC’s World at One on Tuesday, Mujtaba Rahman, the European managing director of political risk company Eurasia Group warned Ms Merkel’s departure from the bloc could trigger a chaotic downward spiral of the European Union’s economic recovery from Coronavirus as he suggested “big questions” lie ahead with Germany’s new leadership.
Mr Rahman explained that a major reason for this was that Angela Merkel was “really effective” at keeping the 27 member states united and that her replacement could prove not so good at this.
He warned how due to Germany’s role within Europe and Merkel’s belief in it, the project is now threatened by a coalition that he suggested could lose control of its economic recovery.
The expert went on to issue a sobering warning that he feels the breaks could be “put on too early, probably in 2023, that stifles the economic recovery” of the bloc.
Mr Rahman added such a move could create a host of “consequences” that are waiting in the wings.
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The political expert warned how a similar situation that was seen with Greece’s devastating economic crisis could be repeated if the bloc and a new Germany premier do not take the issue of recovery seriously.
He said: “If you think back to what happened ten years ago with Greece and all of the austerity implemented many would argue unnecessarily…
“Look what that did to populism and internal cohesion within Europe.”
He added how “these are big questions” for the European Union to consider as Merkel departs and a new leadership takes control of both Germany and a plays a pivotal role within Europe.
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