Why Angela Merkel is biding her time over Brexit

Schweigen is a German word describing the specific quiet you get when people do not speak.

And schweigen is what Mrs Merkel now hopes for from fellow EU leaders and her own cabinet members, to give some semblance of EU unity and calm.

At a closed gathering of Europe's centre-right parties in Brussels last week for example, she appealed, or rather instructed, politicians to hold their council on Brexit until after the summer.

Crisis or no crisis, you can count on European politicians to unfailingly take their cherished August holiday.

This year, Mrs Merkel hopes it will serve as a cooling off period for the resentful, fizzing with outrage at "ungrateful UK" (like Spain); the vengeful, itching to make life miserable for a post-Brexit Britain (like France); the panicked, worrying about the imminent demise of the rest of the EU (such as Italy) and the media divas/politicians without real influence (such as the president of the European Parliament or the foreign ministers of various countries including Germany) who hog the headlines, making unhelpful waves.

But, canny politician that she is, Angela Merkel cannot imagine that after a splash or two in the Mediterranean, Europe will be much more coherent in its attitude towards Brexit.

She knows it will not be.

But the August time-out gives her space to plan.

September will tell her which UK prime minister she will have to deal with in Brexit negotiations, for example.

And it is policy, attitude and experience that will likely temper her attitude rather than the sex of the UK's next premier, as has been suggested by some (male) commentators.

The summer break will also give Mrs Merkel time to try to get her own house in order.

Next year is election year in Germany and parties are already in campaign mode.

Angela Merkel heads the centre-right CDU party and both the Social Democrat vice-chancellor and her sister conservative CSU party in Bavaria, have already tried to use the Brexit vote to damage her.

The Social Democrats blame Mrs Merkel's austerity programme for souring public opinion against the EU.

The CSU insists Germany must not pay a euro more to plug the gaping hole that will be left in the EU budget by Britain's departure.

Domestic pressure

But what is bothering Angela Merkel most of all are recent public opinion polls..

German voters are traditionally seen as some of the EU's most enthusiastic supporters but according to News channel N24, 62% of Germans now want decision-making powers transferred from Brussels back to Berlin.

Mrs Merkel, who grew up in the communist East, under the shadow of Germany's World War Two history, is a passionate supporter of European unity.

But ever the pragmatist, she is keenly aware the people of Europe demand change.

For now she seems happy to allow the man sometimes referred to as her "attack dog" - remember the Greek euro crisis a year ago - to make EU reformist noises.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble gave a round of interviews this Sunday, saying time was of the essence and demanding that EU capitals take back powers from the European Commission so as to be more effective in times of crisis.

(BBC)