“We are very concerned that people seem to be starting to think that all politicians behave like Wulff, and that would be fatal,” Christian Humborg, TI Germany’s managing director told The Local.

“I think the Wulff affair is a wonderful opportunity for German politicians to react to the cynical attitude that this is normal, and improve things,” he said.

He said the fact that the authorities were investigating whether Wulff and his aide had committed crimes showed that Germany already had the laws necessary to tackle his case.

But for Wulff, the problem was one of the credibility invested in his constitutional office.

“The president doesn’t have power in Germany; the only power he has is his word. And the power of the word is a function of his integrity. He doesn’t fulfil the level of integrity necessary for his position.

“Let’s not forget that a lot of people want to see him resign – less than half of the population want him to stay. And we’ve heard from many of those that they only want him to stay because they are convinced that any other candidate would have similar allegations thrown at them. We need a poll to ask why people think he should stay in office. I wouldn’t assume that the people who want him to stay approve of his behaviour.”

The question of whether Wulff should resign was one for him to answer personally, and although opposition politicians were increasing pressure on the president, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s continued support for him was questionable, said Humborg.

“We have to ask ourselves why the chancellor is still publicly supporting his behaviour and allowing the public image of politicians to be tainted further. She has some responsibility to safeguard our democracy so that people do not lose trust in the system as a result of politicians’ questionable practices.”

Most of the allegations against Wulff date back to his state premiership of Lower Saxony between 2003 and 2010.

Asked whether the dense web of overlapping personal, business and political relationships that Wulff seemed to have spun during this time were normal for a man in his position, Humborg said, “We don’t have enough empirical data to say to what degree politicians have such relationships in general, but I would be surprised if that was a widespread phenomenon.”

Humborg said he recognized that state politicians must promote their regional economy, but that high moral standards could still be expected of them.

“I don’t think it is so difficult to have a close interaction with people and businesses while still respecting a responsible distance when it comes to personal advantage,” he said.

While Humborg acknowledged that the laws concerning Wulff’s case were sufficient, he called for four major changes to increase transparency elsewhere in Germany’s political life.

He pointed out that there was currently no regulation to force transparency in sponsoring political parties, that Germany has not signed up to the United Nations convention against corruption, and that the law against bribing politicians was too weak.

And he said there needed to be more public information on how federal MPs earn money outside their parliamentary remuneration.

The final additional measure would be to govern what is known as revolving door employment – where ministers and deputy parliamentary ministers who have had contact with businesses in their public positions then go to work for them.

Other countries impose a quarantine period after politicians leave office, during which they cannot work for a firm with which they have had dealings.

Overall, Humborg said Germany had a high levels of integrity, but that there was a need for greater transparency.

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Despite accusations in both countries of interference, Merkel used a visit to Paris for a joint Franco-German cabinet session to make clear her support for Sarkozy, who has increasingly cited Germany as a model for France.

“We belong to the same political family. He supported me and it is natural that I support him in his campaign,” Merkel said during a joint television interview with Sarkozy to be broadcast later on French and German television.

Saying the two had worked together in a “friendly atmosphere” on the eurozone debt crisis, Merkel said they had a strong personal relationship.

Sarkozy said he was pleased to have won her support.

“The French people will decide themselves, like Germans decide, freely,” he said in the interview, but added: “When someone for whom you have affection and whom you admire says ‘I support your actions’, that pleases me.”

At a press conference after the cabinet session, Merkel dismissed criticism of her support for Sarkozy, saying: “It is normal that we support parties that are friends.”

Merkel recalled that Sarkozy had supported her in 2009 during her own election campaign, and said the French leader’s Socialist opponent François Hollande had recently come to Germany to address the opposition SPD.

Sarkozy thanked Merkel for her “friendship and trust” and — without citing him by name — slammed Hollande’s plan to renegotiate a eurozone fiscal compact seen by Berlin and Paris as a solution to the eurozone debt crisis.

He also denounced critics, in particular from the left, who have slammed Sarkozy for taking inspiration from the German model in efforts to reform France’s faltering economy.

“We are not jealous of them (Germany), we want to draw inspiration from them,” Sarkozy said, warning his opponents against “playing with feelings that remind us of periods that we do not want to see again.”

France and Germany were once seen as the twin motors of the European Union, but Paris is now clearly the junior partner, its economy lagging behind by any measure, and Sarkozy has turned to Berlin for ideas.

Sarkozy trails Hollande in opinion polls and Merkel fears that a new left-wing French administration will diverge from her austerity plans.

Speaking to reporters in Dijon, Hollande said “it says a lot about (Sarkozy’s) situation” that he was seeking Merkel’s support.

“For me the only test is the French people…. I don’t need the support of anyone but the votes of the French people,” he said, adding that Merkel would face a “tough task” in winning support for Sarkozy.

Sarkozy, still smarting from France’s loss of its AAA debt rating, cites Germany’s success almost daily to justify his own policies, drawing inspiration from both Merkel and her centre-left predecessor Gerhard Schroeder.

In Berlin, Merkel’s spokesman Georg Streiter said her active support for Sarkozy’s re-election campaign was a “personal” engagement as leader of Germany’s centre-right CDU party and not as the nation’s chancellor.

According to CDU general secretary Hermann Groehe, Merkel plans to support Sarkozy at campaign rallies ahead of France’s two-round presidential election, with a first round on April 22nd and a run-off on May 6th.

Sabine von Oppeln, a Berlin-based expert on Franco-German relations, said Merkel’s backing of Sarkozy was motivated by her efforts to reform Europe.

“With the euro crisis, she found in Sarkozy a partner who has largely supported her or at least not worked against her,” she said.

“There were numerous tensions between Merkel and Sarkozy in the past but today she is making a tactical calculation based on the fact that the two governments need Europe.”

German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung meanwhile wrote that Sarkozy had “latched his destiny to that of ‘dear Angela’ and the ‘German model’.”

“The time is long gone when he would, in private, call the chancellor ‘fatso’ and the Germans ‘the Boche’,” it wrote.

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That the pair were to chair their 14th joint Franco-German cabinet session was not unusual, but the joint television interview that they were to give afterwards was billed as an unprecedented cross-border endorsement.

France and Germany were once seen as the twin motor of the European Union, but Paris is now clearly the junior partner, its economy lagging behind by any measure, and Sarkozy has turned to his fellow conservative for ideas.

Sarkozy trails Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in the opinion polls, less than 80 days before the French election, and Merkel fears that a new left-wing French administration will diverge from her austerity plans.

Specifically, Hollande has said he will seek to re-negotiate the hard-won eurozone “fiscal compact” that Merkel sees as essential to binding the single currency bloc together behind her deficit-cutting agenda.

Sarkozy, still smarting from France’s loss of its AAA debt rating, now cites Germany’s success almost daily to justify his own policies, drawing inspiration from both Merkel and her centre-left predecessor Gerhard Schröder.

The leader of Merkel’s CDU party, Hermann Gröhe, has confirmed that Merkel will support Sarkozy “at campaign events in the spring.”

The French and German leaders will therefore give a joint interview to their respective public television networks from Paris, after a meeting of their top ministerial teams in Sarkozy’s cabinet room at the Elysee Palace.

Despite the humiliation of the loss of France’s AAA, the governments believe the fiscal compact and the creation of a eurozone financial safety net in the form of a permanent bail-out fund have contained the debt crisis.

Now, they plan to turn to measures to prevent future crises and restart growth – while keeping a close eye on Greece and other weaker Mediterranean countries in case any backsliding on austerity measures spooks the markets.

Monday’s talks will concentrate on ways of harmonising corporate tax rates across the Rhine and on plans for a new financial transaction tax.

Both support the idea of such a tax – mocked as “madness” by their British colleague Prime Minister David Cameron, who fears it would drive finance houses out of Europe – but differences remain.

Sarkozy is so determined to burnish his credentials as a reformer in the twilight of his first term that he vowed France will go it alone with a 0.1 percent tax by August. Merkel still hopes for a joint European measure.

The French leader also claims German parentage for his plan to boost sales tax in order to fund a reduction in employer social security contributions, a reform he hopes will boost job creation in a stagnant economy.

Many in France have mocked Sarkozy’s new determination to celebrate the “German model” at every turn, but his supporters are convinced his relations with Merkel will pay off in the long run.

“By tying himself to other world leaders, Nicolas Sarkozy reinforces in French minds his image as a statesman… and reduces the Socialist candidate to nothing more than a mere opposition figure,” said a ruling party source.

In an interview with French television last Sunday, Sarkozy repeatedly referred to Germany’s economic success, noting that it had managed to save industrial jobs by keeping corporate payroll charges down.

Sarkozy supported Merkel in 2009 when she successfully ran for re-election, but some in his own camp are worried by the closeness between the pair.

“We must be careful not to appear to be following Germany’s lead,” said Lionnel Luca, a UMP lawmaker, warning against the “whiff of Germanophobia exuded by the Socialist Party for political reasons.”

Hollande has taken a strong lead ahead of the presidential vote, with polls showing him taking 28 to 30 percent of votes in the first round, ahead of 23 to 24 percent for Sarkozy. The first round of the election will take place on April 22 followed by a run-off on May 6.

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During her three-day trip to the world’s second largest economy, Merkel praised the advantages of the single currency and urged China to put pressure on Iran and to condemn Syria at the United Nations.

Merkel, who was prevented from meeting journalists and a human rights lawyers, ended her official visit in the southern city of Guangzhou, Xinhua news agency reported.

Merkel, who held talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao during her visit, had said that she would raise human rights issues during the trip.

She attended a business forum with Wen, who Friday said China had neither the intention nor ability “to buy Europe”.

Experts believe China holds more than $550 billion of European sovereign debt, although the figure has not been officially confirmed.

Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will preside Monday over the 14th Franco-German council of ministers, which will be largely devoted to the eurozone financial crisis.

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China is “willing to cooperate with Europe to fight the current crisis. Some people say this means China wants to buy Europe”, Wen told a German-China business forum in the southern city of Guangzhou.

“This a concern and doesn’t fit reality. China doesn’t have this intention and doesn’t have this ability.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in China for a three-day visit to boost her host’s confidence in Europe, also attended the forum along with executives from the energy, chemicals, engineering, banking and electronics sectors.

There are growing concerns in Europe that a recent wave of investment by Chinese companies and government-backed funds will give Beijing too much influence over struggling European economies.

In the latest deal, China State Grid has agreed to pay 387 million euros ($508.2 million) for a 25 percent stake in the national electricity grid of debt-stricken Portugal, Treasury Secretary Maria Albuquerque said Thursday.

European leaders have called on China, which has the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves, to invest in a bailout fund to rescue debt-stricken countries.

China has so far made no firm commitment to provide financial assistance, although Wen said Thursday it was considering getting more involved in bailout funds through the International Monetary Fund.

Analysts say bargain-hunting is behind the recent acquisitions by Chinese companies seeking to expand overseas. The country’s sovereign wealth fund has also sought to diversify away from US bonds.

At the forum Wen also touched on the politically sensitive topic of rare earths — 17 elements crucial in the manufacturing of many high-tech products — amid accusations China unfairly restricts exports of the valuable minerals.

China — the world’s largest producer of rare earths — “has no discrimination when it comes to foreign companies”, Wen told the forum.

State media said this week Beijing was bracing for renewed calls to ease its rare earths controls after the World Trade Organization ruled the country’s limits on key raw material exports broke trade rules.

Merkel, who earlier Friday held talks with President Hu Jintao and the country’s top legislator Wu Bangguo in Beijing, had said that she would raise human rights issues during her visit.

Rights lawyer Mo Shaoping, whose clients include jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, told AFP Friday that police had prevented him from meeting with Merkel at a reception at the German Embassy on Thursday.

Mo said police told him he was not allowed to attend the meeting due to concerns over social stability ahead of a key Communist Party meeting slated for late this year that will usher in a 10-yearly leadership transition.

The German embassy in Beijing did not immediately comment on the absence of Mo, who also defended the jailed rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.

Merkel’s visit to Guangdong province will include a meeting with Gan Junqiu, the state-backed Catholic bishop of Guangzhou — the provincial capital — a German diplomatic source said, before returning to Germany on Saturday.

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China “is investigating and evaluating concrete ways in which it can, via the IMF, get more deeply involved in solving the European debt problem through [European Stability Mechanism/European Financial Stability Facility] channels,” Mr Wen said in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing.

The comments have revived hopes that China, which holds by far the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves, could add some of this $3.2tn cash pile to existing and future European bail-out funds.

European officials said they believed Beijing had clearly changed its position and more concrete terms of any Chinese contribution were likely to be discussed in two weeks at a delayed EU-China summit.

Mr Wen said it was increasingly “urgent” that a solution be found to the European debt crisis and he called on the international community to co-operate towards that end. The euro rose about half a per cent against the US dollar soon after his words were reported.

Chinese officials have long signalled their willingness to contribute to global efforts to bail out Europe but have also made clear Beijing would not take the lead and would like to see more convincing efforts from Europe’s own governments to resolve the crisis.

European leaders last year agreed to leverage the approximately €250bn left in the eurozone’s rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, as a way to make the EU’s dwindling bail-out resources go further.

One option would be for China to put money into a so-called “co-investment fund” which Klaus Regling, the EFSF chief, has been promoting to public and private investors across the world, including Chinese sovereign wealth funds.

Ms Merkel is in China on a three-day mission to reassure Beijing that Europe is able to tackle its mounting debt problems.

She told an audience of Chinese scholars on Thursday that European countries were taking serious steps to rein in debt and strengthen growth.

“I want to tell you: The euro has strengthened Europe,” Ms Merkel said in a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of the country’s leading academic institutions, which functions as a think-tank for the government. “This is not a crisis of the euro, it is a debt crisis and a crisis of different levels of competitiveness,” she said.

Ms Merkel’s visit comes just days after the EU decision to make the budget discipline required from the 17 euro economies part of national law, which she had been pushing for strongly.

Ms Merkel, who is scheduled to meet President Hu Jintao on Friday, also stressed that she would press her Chinese counterparts to support actions against Iran and Syria, two of the countries that top the global political agenda.

Acknowledging Beijing’s opposition to a new round of sanctions against Iran, Ms Merkel said it could use its influence to tell Iran to be more transparent about its nuclear programme.

But questions from the audience showed that China’s focus is clearly on Europe. Ms Merkel said the financial crisis required every eurozone member country to “do their homework”, but also solidarity among the group, and claimed that Europe was growing together in the crisis.

That contrasts with Chinese perceptions that the euro group is plagued by frequent friction and difficulties in communicating a clear common agenda.

In response to a question, Ms Merkel said European countries were looking into whether there was a way to limit the negative fallout from sovereign ratings downgrades in financial crises. “We must face [rating agencies'] judgment, they tell the truth,” Ms Merkel said. “But [ratings decisions] can have a reinforcing effect on a crisis.”

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China, the world’s second-biggest economy, has watched with increasing concern as eurozone economies have deteriorated, and has repeatedly urged European leaders to get a grip on the situation.

Merkel’s meeting with President Hu Jintao came a day after talks with Premier Wen Jiabao, who said Beijing was looking at ways it could contribute to Europe’s bailout funds and warned of an “urgent” need to solve the debt crisis.

“China is investigating and evaluating ways, through the International Monetary Fund, to be more deeply involved in solving the European debt problem via ESM/EFSF channels,” Wen said at a news conference with Merkel.

Wen was referring to the European Financial Stability Facility, a temporary rescue fund that was established to help struggling economies in Europe, and the European Stability Mechanism — a newer, permanent fund.

Hu told Merkel before their closed-door meeting Friday that her visit would “increase mutual understanding” between the two countries, whose bilateral trade reached $169 billion in 2011, an 18.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Merkel, who will return to Germany on Saturday, said in a speech Thursday she would raise the issue of human rights during her visit.

After meeting Hu she flew to the southern province of Guangdong, where German companies already have a significant presence, with Wen and executives from the energy, chemicals, engineering, banking and electronics sectors.

Her visit to the manufacturing hub will include a meeting with Gan Junqiu, the state-backed Catholic bishop of Guangzhou — the provincial capital — according to a German diplomatic source.

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Her trip comes just days after China was hit by deadly unrest in Tibetan-inhabited areas, and the leader of Europe’s biggest economy will also broach the issue of human rights with her Chinese counterparts.

Germany and China, the world’s top two exporters, enjoy vibrant trade relations and Merkel will meet investors and seek to boost confidence in Europe on her fifth trip to the world’s second largest economy.

She is due to make a key address on the euro crisis Thursday morning, before holding talks with Premier Wen Jiabao later in the afternoon.

Accompanied by a trade delegation, she will also hold talks with President Hu Jintao and visit the wealthy, southern province of Guangdong — a manufacturing hub — on Friday.

Observers will be watching her visit for any mention of last week’s violence in Tibetan-inhabited areas of Sichuan province, which saw police fire on protesters in unrest that left at least two ethnic Tibetans dead.

A German government source said human rights would figure highly on the trip’s agenda, with Merkel keen to talk about minority issues and social development in China.

The German leader will also discuss the eurozone with her Chinese counterparts, who are keen to see a return to growth in Europe and a stable euro.

She will hold talks on possible increased Chinese involvement in the International Monetary Fund, access to Chinese markets and intellectual property rights, the source said.

Merkel will also urge China not to take advantage of Europe’s ban on Iranian oil — imposed on Tehran over its nuclear programme — to boost its own imports of the resource, the source said.

And the German leader will ask for Beijing’s support for a UN Security Council resolution against Syria, where fighting between President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces and rebels is escalating.

On Friday, Merkel will fly to Guangdong — where nearly 500 German companies are already present — with Wen and executives from the energy, chemicals, engineering, banking and electronics sectors.

On the agenda of her discussions will also be rare earths — valuable elements that are used in the production of high-tech products and which are of “very great importance for the German economy,” the source said.

China has been accused of deliberately restricting their exports to drive up prices and force manufacturers onto its shores, but Beijing says it limits them for environmental reasons as mining them is very polluting.

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But the announcement that that 25 of 27 European Union nations had adopted the new pact on budgetary discipline was overshadowed by outrage over a German suggestion heavily indebted Greece submit its finances to EU review.

The idea of placing the cradle of European democracy under the supervision of an EU budget tsar quickly failed to gain traction at the summit in Brussels.

“There cannot be any talk of putting any nation under wardenship. It would not be reasonable, democratic and efficient,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a news conference.

Sarkozy said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not back the idea, suggesting the proposal came from others in her government.

Merkel, however, did not repudiate the controversial proposal which Greece’s education minister termed “the product of a sick imagination.”

“I think that in light of the discussions, which are often very emotional, it is important that we come to a conclusion” about the extent of the surveillance of Greece, she told reporters.

Greece is already essentially under supervision with European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund auditors in Athens to ensure the government implements reforms in return for bailout loans.

Athens has been under constant pressure to implement drastic budget cuts and radical economic reforms in return for installments from a first €110-billion bailout it was granted in May 2010.

Merkel noted that a second €130-billion rescue package for Greece, which the eurozone hopes to finalise this week, was conditioned on some form of “surveillance that we are now thinking about how to make more efficient.”

Under the radical German proposal, a commissioner appointed by the 16 other eurozone finance ministers could veto budget decisions made by Athens.

“I am strongly against the idea of imposing a commissioner with that mission only to Greece. That’s not acceptable,” said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the key group of eurozone finance ministers.

Calling the German proposal “vexing,” Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said it “doesn’t achieve anything and it goes in the wrong direction.”

However, the plan drew cautious support from Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who complained that Greek authorities “are not delivering on reforms.” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte echoed those sentiments: “Greece must also honour the commitments it has made with us.”

Merkel did not push this plan further, however, said it was about “how Europe can help Greece accomplish the tasks given to it.”

The EU focus on bailouts was supposed to give way at Monday’s summit to a renewed push to stimulate growth and create jobs across European economies.

This idea even saw tentative moves to place an ambitious free-trade deal with the United States on the coming agenda. But at its root was the announcement that 25 of 27 countries had adopted the new pact on budgetary discipline.

The Czech Republic joined Britain on the outside looking in, but a threat by Poland to withdraw evaporated after France gave ground in an argument about the influence of non-euro countries on eurozone summits.

Pushed by Germany and the ECB, the treaty – to be formally signed in March – will require governments to introduce laws on balanced budgets and impose near automatic sanctions on countries that violate deficit rules.

Only those countries that sign up will be able to access bailout aid from a new rescue fund whose legal basis was also ticked off at the talks. It will enter force after 12 nations ratify it.

The pact is a “first step toward a fiscal union,” said European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi amid hopes among some governments that the pact will prompt the ECB to step up a controversial bond purchase programme.

With Italy and Spain still fragile, EU leaders will discuss in March whether to add half as much again to a new rescue fund’s initial €500-billion size, amid wider moves to beef up IMF resources.

“We are getting the feeling that there is a shift in Germany’s position and I am optimistic,” said Italian premier Mario Monti.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said €82 billion of unspent EU funds could kick-start growth and job creation – but with the catch that money is matched locally.

Among ideas adopted by the summit for boosting growth in Europe, there were calls to lower the tax burden on employers to get more people hired, and give all young people guaranteed options in work, training or study.

However, a summit statement concluded: “There are no quick fixes. Our action must be determined, persistent and broad-based.”

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The debate must be on “how Europe can help Greece accomplish the tasks given to it,” Merkel said on arrival at an EU summit after Greek officials and some European leaders rejected the proposal.

“But all of this will only work if Greece and other (EU) member states talk about it. This is why I do not want a controversial debate but a discussion that achieves success,” she said.

The German suggestion to put Greece under stewardship cast a shadow over the summit which is aimed at sealing a fiscal pact to toughen budget discipline across the EU, finalising a rescue fund and finding ways to counter recession.

The idea that Greece might cede budget control to the EU was contained in a German submission to its eurozone partners first revealed late Friday by the Financial Times and confirmed by European sources.

Under the radical plan, denounced by Greek officials, a commissioner appointed by the 16 other eurozone finance ministers could veto budget decisions made by Athens.

German Economy Minister Philipp Rösler earlier on Monday had backed beefed-up EU monitoring of Greece on Monday.

Rösler, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor, told the daily Bild that the European Union should step in to ensure that Greece toes the line of budget austerity as it struggles to emerge from a crippling debt crisis.

“We need more leadership and monitoring in implementing the course of reform (in Greece),” he was quoted as saying. “If the Greeks fail to do this themselves, the leadership and monitoring must come in a stronger way from outside, for example via the EU.”

Rösler said that patience in Germany, the paymaster for the eurozone’s bailouts, for Greece was wearing thin.

“Time is running out,” he said. “There can only be more assistance if the Greek government finally carries out the necessary reforms. The Greeks must finally send a clear message that they mean what they say,” he added.

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