Berlin With frameless glasses and a dark green fleece jacket, the 31-year-old looked inconspicuous at the time. But Katharina Dröge’s words have always been pithy: “In order to be serious, the government has to deal with the issue differently,” she explained when she left the Federal Ministry of Economics. That was in February 2016.
Shortly before, Dröge was one of the first MPs to visit the newly set up reading room in the ministry. For years she had been at the forefront of the fight for her and other members of the opposition to gain insight into the negotiations for the “Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership” – better known as TTIP.
The EU and the USA have been negotiating the free trade agreement since 2013. Three years later, Dröge, then spokeswoman for competition policy for the Greens in the Bundestag, was able to take a look at the documents in the reading room for the first time. However, only for a limited time and without being allowed to talk about the content, which angered Dröge in a similar way as the TTIP plans themselves.
A lot has changed since that day. Dröge has been one of two parliamentary group leaders for a few weeks. The Greens are themselves part of the government. But one thing has remained: Dröge’s dislike of TTIP has changed just as little as that of the European-Canadian Ceta agreement. Until a few days ago, that wasn’t even worth mentioning. The agreements in Berlin have not been an issue for years. But all of a sudden, both were back high on the political agenda.
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Ceta: Traffic light partners put pressure on
Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed the latest lawsuits against Ceta. So far, the agreement is only provisionally in force. The federal government still has to ratify it – if it wants to.
In the coalition agreement, the traffic light government had agreed to take care of Ceta as soon as the judgment from Karlsruhe was available. While the SPD and FDP are now putting pressure on and want to sign Ceta, the Greens are slowing down – Dröge above all.
In her view, the agreement in the coalition agreement only stipulates the point in time when the decision is to be taken, but “this is by no means a preliminary determination of its content”. Dröge made it clear to the Handelsblatt: “Nothing has changed in our attitude towards the Greens.” In its election program, the party had strictly rejected ratification of Ceta‧.
Dröge’s sentences sound like those from opposition times. But those times are over. Her word carries significantly more weight today, not only because she is at the head of the parliamentary group. Rather, it is also up to her to preserve the peace of the coalition.
The two women lead the parliamentary group, Habeck is Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister.
(Photo: Imago Images)
And so she caused irritation among the traffic light partners with her pithy rejection of the desire for quick ratification. That is “a strange reading of the coalition agreement of the good Mrs. Dröge,” says a traffic light politician.
The party left Dröge does not like that at all. She fears that agreements like Ceta will continue to disadvantage citizens. “In particular, the special rights of action for corporations provided for in the agreement entail dangers for consumers and states,” she says.
TTIP: Lindner’s affront to Dröge
This criticism is almost entirely familiar from her with regard to TTIP. The difference with the European-American agreement: It never came into force, but has been on hold for six years. At that time, a certain Donald Trump had become US President.
But last Sunday it wasn’t the Americans that Dröge had to deal with. The stimulus figure was just a few streets away in the Federal Ministry of Finance: Christian Lindner (FDP) called for a new trade agreement to be negotiated with the USA.
An affront to Dröge too, considering their position in the past. She is considered one of the leaders of the protest movement against TTIP, behind which millions of Germans united who took to the streets and made the fear of American chlorinated chicken their symbol.
Dröge also repeatedly used the chlorinated chicken to attack TTIP – which earned her the accusation of “anti-Americanism” from the CDU/CSU in power at the time.
With frameless glasses and a dark green fleece jacket, the 31-year-old looked inconspicuous at the time. But Katharina Dröge’s words have always been pithy: “In order to be serious, the government has to deal with the issue differently,” she explained when she left the Federal Ministry of Economics. That was in February 2016.
Shortly before, Dröge was one of the first MPs to visit the newly set up reading room in the ministry. For years she had been at the forefront of the fight for her and other members of the opposition to gain insight into the negotiations for the “Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership” – better known as TTIP.
The EU and the USA have been negotiating the free trade agreement since 2013. Three years later, Dröge, then spokeswoman for competition policy for the Greens in the Bundestag, was able to take a look at the documents in the reading room for the first time. However, only for a limited time and without being allowed to talk about the content, which angered Dröge in a similar way as the TTIP plans themselves.
A lot has changed since that day. Dröge has been one of two parliamentary group leaders for a few weeks. The Greens are themselves part of the government. But one thing has remained: Dröge’s dislike of TTIP has changed just as little as that of the European-Canadian Ceta agreement. Until a few days ago, that wasn’t even worth mentioning. The agreements in Berlin have not been an issue for years. But all of a sudden, both were back high on the political agenda.
Ceta: Traffic light partners put pressure on
Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed the latest lawsuits against Ceta. So far, the agreement is only provisionally in force. The federal government still has to ratify it – if it wants to.
In the coalition agreement, the traffic light government had agreed to take care of Ceta as soon as the judgment from Karlsruhe was available. While the SPD and FDP are now putting pressure on and want to sign Ceta, the Greens are slowing down – Dröge above all.
In her view, the agreement in the coalition agreement only stipulates the point in time when the decision is to be taken, but “this is by no means a preliminary determination of its content”. Dröge made it clear to the Handelsblatt: “Nothing has changed in our attitude towards the Greens.” In its election program, the party had strictly rejected ratification of Ceta‧.
Dröge’s sentences sound like those from opposition times. But those times are over. Her word carries significantly more weight today, not only because she is at the head of the parliamentary group. Rather, it is also up to her to preserve the peace of the coalition.
And so she caused irritation among the traffic light partners with her pithy rejection of the desire for quick ratification. That is “a strange reading of the coalition agreement of the good Mrs. Dröge,” says a traffic light politician.
The party left Dröge does not like that at all. She fears that agreements like Ceta will continue to disadvantage citizens. “In particular, the special rights of action for corporations provided for in the agreement entail dangers for consumers and states,” she says.
TTIP: Lindner’s affront to Dröge
This criticism is almost entirely familiar from her with regard to TTIP. The difference with the European-American agreement: It never came into force, but has been on hold for six years. At that time, a certain Donald Trump had become US President.
But last Sunday it wasn’t the Americans that Dröge had to deal with. The stimulus figure was just a few streets away in the Federal Ministry of Finance: Christian Lindner (FDP) called for a new trade agreement to be negotiated with the USA.
An affront to Dröge too, considering their position in the past. She is considered one of the leaders of the protest movement against TTIP, behind which millions of Germans united who took to the streets and made the fear of American chlorinated chicken their symbol.
Dröge also repeatedly used the chlorinated chicken to attack TTIP – which earned her the accusation of “anti-Americanism” from the CDU/CSU in power at the time.
The reaction of the parliamentary group leader to Lindner’s proposal was correspondingly clear: “There will be no new edition of TTIP.” An attempt to revive TTIP would lead to another failure, says Dröge.
However, not only Dröge’s office has changed in the debate compared to before. Your reasoning seems to have been severely weakened by the geopolitical situation. With the turning away from Russia and possibly soon also from China, there are growing calls for Germany to strengthen its partnerships in the West. Dröge agrees – but not with the help of Ceta and TTIP.
More: That’s why the Ceta ruling is putting pressure on the traffic light
The reaction of the parliamentary group leader to Lindner’s proposal was correspondingly clear: “There will be no new edition of TTIP.” An attempt to revive TTIP would lead to another failure, says Dröge.
However, not only Dröge’s office has changed in the debate compared to before. Your reasoning seems to have been severely weakened by the geopolitical situation. With the turning away from Russia and possibly soon also from China, there are growing calls for Germany to strengthen its partnerships in the West. Dröge agrees – but not with the help of Ceta and TTIP.
More: That’s why the Ceta ruling is putting pressure on the traffic light