The Man Who Wants Greece to Give Up Euro

Spiegel
July 7, 2011

A member of Angela Merkel's junior coalition party is becoming a liability for the chancellor. As she tries to push through Greek bailout measures, Free Democrat Frank Schäffler is working to foment resistance. All he needs is 20 votes in parliament to block the next aid measures for Athens and the euro.

A make-up artist dabs a bit of powder in his chubby face, then allows politician Frank Schäffler to fall into a deep leather sofa. In just a few moments, the evening talk show he is appearing on will be recorded. Snacks dry out on silver platters as other guests chatter excitedly, but Schäffler remains focused. He's come to say one sentence. His sentence.

So, Mr. Schäffler, the presenter soon asks, would it be best if Greece were to leave the euro-zone?
"If Greece were to do that itself, then I would recommend it," he says.

The sentence is a bit indirect, but its content is Schäffler's show-piece. Greece should return to the drachma, the member of parliament with Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) believes. It's a provocative message that hardly even a dozen German parliamentarians have allowed to cross their lips -- and one that is making the former insurance broker a potential serious risk for Chancellor Angela Merkel's government. Should the chancellor fail to achieve a majority in parliament for such a fundamental question as saving the euro, her center-right coalition government could collapse.

While other politicians staunchly defend another Greek bailout worth billions, one can count on Schäffler taking the extreme opposite position. From inside the government camp, he encourages the Greeks to either sell their beloved islands, famous the world over as vacation destinations, to raise cash or to leave the monetary union. The vote in parliament that only just approved a negotiating mandate for a new bailout is still fresh, but the member of the FDP, Merkel's junior coalition partners, is already threatening the chancellor with another embarrassment.

When the Bundestag votes on the next multibillion-euro tranche of loans for Greece and the future European Financial Stabilization Mechanism (EFSM) -- the €700 billion, permanent euro rescue fund, into which Germany will transfer actual cash for the first time instead of just guarantees -- Schäffler wants to vote against the measures and convince others to do the same.

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