Chancellor Merkel considers the main problem to be the skepticism of ordinary Europeans towards this political-economic union of 25 states. Unemployment is rising, and economic growth rates are declining. According to polls, only one in four Germans is convinced that a united Europe, for whose existence he regularly pays taxes, brings benefits to him and his family personally. Yet it is by this indicator that the effectiveness of the government's European policy is assessed. “We must put the interests of the citizen at the center,” urged Frau Merkel. “The point is to add a new foundation to the historical foundation of the EU.”
The chancellor sees the main task of European policy as reducing bureaucracy in Germany and Europe. “Does Europe do everything better than others, or has it become a brake block?” Merkel asks. She believes that 25% of all bureaucratic regulations and directives from Brussels concerning the economy could be repealed, for the benefit of the economy itself. At the same time, she praised the Brussels bureaucrats, especially the Economics Commissioner, German Günter Verheugen, who recognize the intolerability of the current situation. Merkel called for a critical review of the tasks facing the European Union in light of the demands of globalization.
The priority of Germany's upcoming presidency will be the adoption of a pan-European constitution (in 2005, residents of the Netherlands and France did not approve it in referendums). The German Chancellor spoke out against further enlargement of the European Union: “Less Europe – that could be more.” Although Bulgaria and Romania, in her opinion, will definitely join the EU. Regarding Croatia and Turkey, Merkel vaguely noted that negotiations with them on EU accession cannot be “a one-way street.”