BERLIN, Aug 30 (Reuters) – A German central banker whose disparaging remarks about Muslim immigrants have caused a public outcry defended himself on Monday as the Bundesbank board met to decide his future. Speaking at a news conference to present his new book on the future of Germany, Thilo Sarrazin denied accusations he had mixed racial theory into his arguments and defended statistics he said showed that Muslim immigrants were undermining German society.

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the Bundesbank board member at the weekend, saying Sarrazin’s remarks were “completely unacceptable”, and urged the central bank to act.

Sarrazin brushed off the criticism and said he was certain he had done nothing to warrant dismissal from the Bundesbank, which can only remove him for serious misconduct.

“I can’t imagine the chancellor has had the time to read my book,” said Sarrazin, referring to his 464-page work “Deutschland schafft sich ab,” (Germany does away with itself) which German media said was heading for the bestseller lists.

“It’s very balanced,” he said of the book, whose presentation was met by protests in Berlin on Monday.

According to excerpts in German media, the book says that Muslims cost the state more than they contribute, resist integration and may one day form a majority.

“I don’t want us to end up as strangers in our own land, not even on a regional basis,” Sarrazin writes.

BERLIN (Reuters) – As an age of austerity looms for some of Germany’s poorest citizens, pressure is growing to impose higher taxes on the richest, setting the scene for fresh conflict in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.

Thousands have taken to the streets this summer to demonstrate against plans by Merkel’s centre-right government to cut billions of euros in spending on the unemployed without imposing a similar burden on the other end of society.

Some senior figures from her conservative Christian Democrats have urged Merkel to consider higher taxes for the rich, lest a steady slide in the administration’s popularity accelerate into freefall before six state elections next year.

This would set the CDU on a collision course with its junior coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats, whose campaign for tax cuts in 2009′s federal election won them a record share of votes, giving Merkel a centre-right majority.

With support for the CDU now crumbling to levels rarely seen since Merkel took office in 2005, the pragmatic pastor’s daughter may decide that shoring up her own party is the lesser evil when parliament’s summer recess ends next month.

Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University, said arguing for higher taxes for the rich could convince centrist voters to turn out for the CDU in the regional elections next year without alienating the party’s right wing.

“The CDU needs something to drag itself back up, and there are good arguments in favour of it,” he said. “Everything that’s been suggested in the party to date would still leave the top tax rates well below what they were under Helmut Kohl.”

BERLIN (Reuters) – As an age of austerity looms for some of Germany’s poorest citizens, pressure is growing to impose higher taxes on the richest, setting the scene for fresh conflict in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.

Thousands have taken to the streets this summer to demonstrate against plans by Merkel’s center-right government to cut billions of euros in spending on the unemployed without imposing a similar burden on the other end of society.

Some senior figures from her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) have urged Merkel to consider higher taxes for the rich, lest a steady slide in the administration’s popularity accelerate into freefall before six state elections next year.

This would set the CDU on a collision course with its junior coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), whose campaign for tax cuts in 2009′s federal election won them a record share of votes, giving Merkel a center-right majority.

With support for the CDU now crumbling to levels rarely seen since Merkel took office in 2005, the pragmatic pastor’s daughter may decide that shoring up her own party is the lesser evil when parliament’s summer recess ends next month.

Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University, said arguing for higher taxes for the rich could convince centrist voters to turn out for the CDU in the regional elections next year without alienating the party’s right wing.

“The CDU needs something to drag itself back up, and there are good arguments in favor of it,” he said. “Everything that’s been suggested in the party to date would still leave the top tax rates well below what they were under Helmut Kohl.”

BERLIN, Aug 20 (Reuters) – German industry launched a concerted attack on Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday over her proposal for a tax on nuclear power providers, urging her in an open letter to drop the plan or put Germany’s future at risk.

Led by the heads of the country’s biggest utilities, industry bosses and members of her own Christian Democrats (CDU) ramped up the pressure on Merkel to yield as her centre-right government prepares to unveil its long-term energy plans.

The letter, which was also signed by academics and a top media executive, follows weeks of protest by the utilities about the tax, which Merkel hopes will raise 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) a year as part of an 80 billion euro budget consolidation drive.

“This is about securing the basis on which we live for tomorrow and Germany’s ability to thrive as a place for business in future. It concerns all of us,” the letter said.

“Policies that aim to consolidate the budget with new energy taxes block necessary investment in the future. For example: the planned nuclear fuel tax or new increases in energy tax must not lead to future investments being prevented,” it added.

Merkel, a former environment minister under Helmut Kohl, said this week she was open to alternatives to the tax, which foresees levying a charge on nuclear fuel, but that the government still wanted to raise the 2.3 billion euros.

Her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the government was committed to providing a sustainable energy supply and would decide in due course how to resolve the matter.

BERLIN, Aug 20 (Reuters) – German industry launched a concerted attack on Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday over her proposal for a tax on nuclear power providers, urging her in an open letter to drop the plan or put Germany’s future at risk.

Led by the heads of the country’s biggest utilities, industry bosses and members of her own Christian Democrats (CDU) ramped up the pressure on Merkel to yield as her centre-right government prepares to unveil its long-term energy plans.

The letter, which was also signed by academics and a top media executive, follows weeks of protest by the utilities about the tax, which Merkel hopes will raise 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) a year as part of an 80 billion euro budget consolidation drive.

“This is about securing the basis on which we live for tomorrow and Germany’s ability to thrive as a place for business in future. It concerns all of us,” the letter said.

“Policies that aim to consolidate the budget with new energy taxes block necessary investment in the future. For example: the planned nuclear fuel tax or new increases in energy tax must not lead to future investments being prevented,” it added.

Merkel, a former environment minister under Helmut Kohl, said this week she was open to alternatives to the tax, which foresees levying a charge on nuclear fuel, but that the government still wanted to raise the 2.3 billion euros.

Her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the government was committed to providing a sustainable energy supply and would decide in due course how to resolve the matter.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Record growth and billions in extra tax revenues are likely to reinforce not weaken German resolve to slash public spending in the run-up to key state elections for Chancellor Angela Merkel next year.

Economic growth of 2.2 percent in the second quarter has raised hopes Europe’s largest economy could expand twice as much as the government has forecast this year, sparking calls for Merkel’s administration to relax planned austerity measures.

Some in her center-right coalition say the public should enjoy a “dividend” from the growth, but senior policymakers argue that Germany must use the upswing as a tailwind to reach a consolidation target of 80 billion euros in the next four years.

The coalition of conservatives and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) has struggled to convert plans into reality due to internal bickering, which analysts say must end if the government wants to emerge from a deep slump in popularity.

Merkel has staked great political capital on her ability to lead Europe out of a sovereign debt crisis that has shaken faith in the euro currency, and German insistence on belt-tightening will keep pressure on other euro zone nations to do the same.

“We will not cut one iota from the overall volume of the (80 billion euro) savings package,” Norbert Barthle, budget policy spokesman in the Bundestag lower house of parliament for Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), told Reuters.

“People understand that when countries get over-indebted the stability of the currency is at risk,” he said. “There’s nothing people are worried about more than having an unstable currency.”

BERLIN (Reuters) – Record growth and billions in extra tax revenues are likely to reinforce not weaken German resolve to slash public spending in the run-up to key state elections for Chancellor Angela Merkel next year.

Economic growth of 2.2 percent in the second quarter has raised hopes Europe’s largest economy could expand twice as much as the government has forecast this year, sparking calls for Merkel’s administration to relax planned austerity measures.

Some in her centre-right coalition say the public should enjoy a “dividend” from the growth, but senior policymakers argue that Germany must use the upswing as a tailwind to reach a consolidation target of 80 billion euros in the next four years.

The coalition of conservatives and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) has struggled to convert plans into reality due to internal bickering, which analysts say must end if the government wants to emerge from a deep slump in popularity.

Merkel has staked great political capital on her ability to lead Europe out of a sovereign debt crisis that has shaken faith in the euro currency, and German insistence on belt-tightening will keep pressure on other euro zone nations to do the same.

“We will not cut one iota from the overall volume of the (80 billion euro) savings package,” Norbert Barthle, budget policy spokesman in the Bundestag lower house of parliament for Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), told Reuters.

“People understand that when countries get over-indebted the stability of the currency is at risk,” he said. “There’s nothing people are worried about more than having an unstable currency.”

BERLIN/ BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union executive is preparing proposals for an EU-wide tax that could fall on bank transactions or air travel, a senior official said on Monday, prompting immediate opposition from Berlin.

With European governments under financial pressure, officials in Brussels are looking for alternatives to finance a growing EU budget, the vast majority of which goes on subsidising farming and funding structural projects such as road building, while 4 percent pays for the EU’s civil service in Brussels.

On Monday, Janusz Lewandowski, the European Union’s commissioner in charge of the 140-billion euro (116 billion pound) budget, said he would outline in September how a new EU tax might look.

“There are various options that would not affect the finance ministries and have a link to European policy like a financial transaction tax, CO2-emission auctions and an aviation scheme,” Lewandowski told Financial Times Deutschland newspaper.

“A transaction tax can bring in a big amount of money,” he said. “The others will only contribute a smaller part to the 140 billion euros a year we are spending.”

Within hours of Lewandowski’s remarks being published, the German government had criticised the idea.

“The demand to introduce an EU tax contravenes the position underlined by the (German) government in its coalition agreement,” a spokesman for the country’s finance ministry said.

BERLIN, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel must galvanise her ruling coalition to deliver on reform promises, and end political infighting that has sapped her poll ratings and weakened the government.

Over the past month, Merkel’s centre-right alliance has lost its majority in the Bundesrat upper house of parliament, and the chancellor has been faced with some of the most negative headlines of her career after a rebellion over the election of a new president.

The situation is dire. Polls suggest Merkel could lose control of parts of Germany her conservatives have governed for nearly 60 years if she cannot get her second administration back on track just nine months after it took office.

But it appears likely the government will soldier on as neither Merkel’s conservatives nor their pro-business Free Democrat (FDP) coalition partners have any desire for early elections — or new partners.

Coalition lawmakers have said the government must pass key planks of its reform agenda by the end of the year to revive its fortunes before a string of state elections in 2011.

The coalition’s woes have worsened despite a raft of data showing the economy has made a vigorous recovery in recent months, with business sentiment posting a record jump in July and unemployment falling to pre-crisis levels.

Following are some of the key factors to watch:

BERLIN (Reuters) – Prosecutors in Germany have charged a suspected Nazi camp guard with helping to kill 430,000 Jews in the Holocaust and personally shooting 10 others.

State prosecutors in the western city of Dortmund said on Thursday charges had been filed against Samuel Kunz, 88, for assisting in the murder of Jews at Nazi death camp Belzec near the Polish city of Lublin between January 1942 and July 1943.

Kunz is also accused of shooting 10 Jews in two separate incidents, prosecutors’ spokesman Christoph Goeke said.

Because Kunz was under 21 at the start of the period under investigation, the trial will probably be held in the youth chamber of a court in nearby Bonn, prosecutors said. No date has been set for the trial.

Kunz’s case came to light during investigations into Ukrainian-born John Demjanjuk, who went on trial in Munich last year, charged with helping to kill 27,900 Jews in the Holocaust.

Like Demjanjuk, Kunz was born in what became the Soviet Union and served in the Red Army, becoming a camp guard after his capture by the Germans, prosecutors said.

Kunz is number three on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of most wanted Nazi war criminals. The charges against him sent out a powerful signal that perpetrators would be brought to justice, said the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff.