Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Merkel's predecessor critical of her handling of diesel scandal: Blick

Published 08/13/2017, 06:53 AM
Updated 08/13/2017, 07:00 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO - Former German Chancellor Schroeder arrives for a church service in Berlin

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO - Former German Chancellor Schroeder arrives for a church service in Berlin

VIENNA (Reuters) - Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has accused his successor Angela Merkel of neglecting her duties by going on holiday rather than chairing talks on diesel car emissions aimed at repairing the vital auto industry's battered reputation.

Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has a commanding lead in opinion polls ahead of a parliamentary election on Sept. 24. But her government has come under mounting pressure for not doing enough to crack down on vehicle pollution after an emissions scandal and for being too close to carmakers.

At a "diesel summit" in Berlin on Aug. 2, while Merkel was on a three-week holiday, politicians and carmakers agreed to overhaul engine software on 5.3 million diesel cars.

But environmentalists immediately dismissed the plan - almost two years after Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) admitted to cheating U.S. diesel emissions tests - as too little, too late.

"I don't want to spoil anyone's holiday. But here I would have taken charge personally. It is all far too important," Schroeder, a Social Democrat who was replaced by Merkel after a narrow election defeat in 2005, said in an interview with Swiss tabloid newspaper Blick which was published on Sunday.

Ministers have been wary of angering the owners of 15 million diesel vehicles and damaging an industry that is the country's biggest exporter and provides about 800,000 jobs. At this month's meeting, politicians stopped short of demanding costlier mechanical modifications to engine and exhaust systems.

Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, also a Social Democrat, accused the VDA car industry association of lacking humility for the way it trumpeted the deal.

Schroeder, a former member of Volkswagen's supervisory board, said that had he been in Merkel's shoes he would taken a more muscular approach.

"What I took away from the media was that one manager or another definitely behaved arrogantly (at the diesel summit). I would not have put up with that. I would have thrown them out of the meeting," he was quoted as saying.

Although Merkel's party is well clear of its nearest rival, Martin Schulz's Social Democrats, an opinion poll published on Thursday suggested her popularity had dropped 10 percentage points to 59 percent.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO - Former German Chancellor Schroeder arrives for a church service in Berlin

Days later, back from holiday and kicking off her campaign, Merkel launched a stinging attack on German auto executives, pressing them to innovate to secure jobs, and win back trust lost by the diesel emissions scandal.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.