Oettinger, a former state premier in Germany and a respected leader in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), joined a chorus of senior German officials and CDU figures to issue warnings against allowing France to backslide on its austerity commitments.

His warnings followed similar comments from Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann and deputy parliamentary floor leader Michael Meister, who said last week France and Italy need to worker harder and faster to resolve their structural problems.

The criticism of France comes just as Germany’s campaign for the September election gets into full swing. Many conservative voters in Germany are skeptical about the Merkel government’s support for rescue packages for struggling euro zone countries.

Oettinger told Die Welt newspaper in excerpts released ahead of publication on Tuesday that it would be a mistake to show leniency for any struggling country in the euro zone that failed to enact urgently needed reform measures.

“There can only be an extension for debt reduction if that is tied to a series of reform measures,” Oettinger said. “France should reform its pension system (and) liberalize its labor market.” He said France also needed to reduce its state debt.

The European Commission decided last week to give France two more years to slash its deficit to below three percent of GDP because of the country’s poor economic outlook within the recession-hit euro zone.

Oettinger said that if France does not introduce reform measures, other instruments should be used to force the country to reduce its deficit.

“The new rules also give us the scope to put punitive measures in the quiver so that we can take steps against countries that don’t pursue budget discipline,” he said. “We only have to call up these instruments.”

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has praised France’s reform steps and was quoted saying the decision to give France an extra two years to cut its deficit was “acceptable.”

But Bundesbank President Weidmann said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday France has a duty as a euro zone heavyweight to take deficit reduction rules seriously.

(Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Ron Askew)

In an interview with Reuters, the U.S. coach and former Germany captain said a superb soccer infrastructure, the Bundesliga’s solid financial base and the entertaining style of play are the ingredients that have made it a European powerhouse with the potential to become the world’s top league.

“I think the Bundesliga will be among the top three leagues for the long term and we all hope it’ll be the number one league in Europe for many years,” said Klinsmann, who played in the Bundesliga for VfB Stuttgart from 1984-89 and Bayern Munich from 1995-97.

The Bundesliga had long languished in the shadows of England, Spain and Italy – with its lower salaries, fewer stars, early Champions League exits and a less-than-sparkling style of play.

However, the Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund Champions League final on May 25 has given the Bundesliga a new lustre.

“It’s obviously not always going to be two German teams in the final but I think we’ll continually see one of our teams in the final four,” said Klinsmann, 48.

“I hope we’ll see a German team going far every year in the Champions League. There are many components that play a role in that success.”

SWEEPING CHANGES

Klinsmann took over as coach of a dispirited Germany squad after their humiliating exit in the opening round of Euro 2004 and helped rebuild the side in two years with sweeping changes, bringing in U.S. fitness trainers, a team psychiatrist and shaking up the entire national federation (DFB).

A former striker who also played for Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur, Klinsmann put a new emphasis on attacking soccer and his team often pushed for goals even when comfortably ahead.

That philosophy trickled down across all levels.

“At the end of the day, that’s what the fans want to see – attractive and attacking football,” Klinsmann said.

“They want to see excitement. They want to go to the stadium and see goals. Yes, there can be an exciting nil-nil too. But at the end of the day it’s all about scoring goals. There’s a new generation of coaches in Germany that have had a big influence on the game.

“There are many coaches out there in Germany who are fans of the attractive and attacking style, who are willing to take risks,” he said.

“They’re willing to give players the chance to try things out and therefore making the game really attractive. That’s really cool.”

There have been on average 2.87 goals per match scored in the Bundesliga this season, up from an average of 2.68 goals per game in 2002/03.

Klinsmann said the Bundesliga’s success this year in the showcase European club competition was the culmination of years of hard work and organisation.

Not a single German club made it to the quarter-final round of the Champions League in the seasons 2002/03, 2003/04 or 2005/06.

CONSERVATIVE SPENDING

The establishment of the league’s “Leistungszentren”, or youth academy system, in 2001 is another important ingredient. Many of Germany’s best players such as Mesut Oezil, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Mario Goetze came from those youth academies.

The sound financial basis that German clubs have, thanks in part to their conservative spending habits, the mostly sold-out stadiums and lucrative if unspectacular TV revenues have also helped make the Bundesliga increasingly appealing to some of the world’s top playing and coaching talent – such as Pep Guardiola who will take over as coach of Bayern Munich next season.

“The clubs are really healthy in Germany and the infrastructure coming out of 2006 (World Cup) plays a role in that too,” Klinsmann said.

“There are big, beautiful and safe stadiums. You see younger and older people in the stadiums now, girls, women, and you see families. It wasn’t always like that a decade ago. A lot has changed in a wonderful way.”

Overall attendance at Bundesliga is up by more than four million to 13,805,496 in the 20011/12 season from 9,459,502 in the 2001/02.

He said prudent spending and decisions by Bundesliga executives has proven to be the right way to go and is one of the main reasons he is so optimistic about the chances of it becoming the world’s top league one day.

“I think there are other countries that are struggling big time,” Klinsmann said.

“Italy and England are struggling big time. Even the bigger teams have so much debt that it’s scary. I think in the long run Spain will jeopardise its foundation if there are only two teams controlling the whole market. It’s not going to work.”

(Additional reporting by Tom Wagner; Editing by Alison Wildey)

In an interview with Reuters, the U.S. coach and former Germany captain said a superb soccer infrastructure, the Bundesliga’s solid financial base and the entertaining style of play are the ingredients that have made it a European powerhouse with the potential to become the world’s top league.

“I think the Bundesliga will be among the top three leagues for the long term and we all hope it’ll be the number one league in Europe for many years,” said Klinsmann, who played in the Bundesliga for VfB Stuttgart from 1984-89 and Bayern Munich from 1995-97.

The Bundesliga had long languished in the shadows of England, Spain and Italy – with its lower salaries, fewer stars, early Champions League exits and a less-than-sparkling style of play.

However, the Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund Champions League final on May 25 has given the Bundesliga a new lustre.

“It’s obviously not always going to be two German teams in the final but I think we’ll continually see one of our teams in the final four,” said Klinsmann, 48.

“I hope we’ll see a German team going far every year in the Champions League. There are many components that play a role in that success.”

SWEEPING CHANGES

Klinsmann took over as coach of a dispirited Germany squad after their humiliating exit in the opening round of Euro 2004 and helped rebuild the side in two years with sweeping changes, bringing in U.S. fitness trainers, a team psychiatrist and shaking up the entire national federation (DFB).

A former striker who also played for Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur, Klinsmann put a new emphasis on attacking soccer and his team often pushed for goals even when comfortably ahead.

That philosophy trickled down across all levels.

“At the end of the day, that’s what the fans want to see – attractive and attacking football,” Klinsmann said.

“They want to see excitement. They want to go to the stadium and see goals. Yes, there can be an exciting nil-nil too. But at the end of the day it’s all about scoring goals. There’s a new generation of coaches in Germany that have had a big influence on the game.

“There are many coaches out there in Germany who are fans of the attractive and attacking style, who are willing to take risks,” he said.

“They’re willing to give players the chance to try things out and therefore making the game really attractive. That’s really cool.”

There have been on average 2.87 goals per match scored in the Bundesliga this season, up from an average of 2.68 goals per game in 2002/03.

Klinsmann said the Bundesliga’s success this year in the showcase European club competition was the culmination of years of hard work and organisation.

Not a single German club made it to the quarter-final round of the Champions League in the seasons 2002/03, 2003/04 or 2005/06.

CONSERVATIVE SPENDING

The establishment of the league’s “Leistungszentren”, or youth academy system, in 2001 is another important ingredient. Many of Germany’s best players such as Mesut Oezil, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Mario Goetze came from those youth academies.

The sound financial basis that German clubs have, thanks in part to their conservative spending habits, the mostly sold-out stadiums and lucrative if unspectacular TV revenues have also helped make the Bundesliga increasingly appealing to some of the world’s top playing and coaching talent – such as Pep Guardiola who will take over as coach of Bayern Munich next season.

“The clubs are really healthy in Germany and the infrastructure coming out of 2006 (World Cup) plays a role in that too,” Klinsmann said.

“There are big, beautiful and safe stadiums. You see younger and older people in the stadiums now, girls, women, and you see families. It wasn’t always like that a decade ago. A lot has changed in a wonderful way.”

Overall attendance at Bundesliga is up by more than four million to 13,805,496 in the 20011/12 season from 9,459,502 in the 2001/02.

He said prudent spending and decisions by Bundesliga executives has proven to be the right way to go and is one of the main reasons he is so optimistic about the chances of it becoming the world’s top league one day.

“I think there are other countries that are struggling big time,” Klinsmann said.

“Italy and England are struggling big time. Even the bigger teams have so much debt that it’s scary. I think in the long run Spain will jeopardise its foundation if there are only two teams controlling the whole market. It’s not going to work.” (Additional reporting by Tom Wagner; Editing by Alison Wildey)

Klinsmann, who before Bale was the last Spurs player to score 20 league goals in a season and also win the prestigious Footballer of the Year for the feat, said Bale was a tremendous talent but he would need to play on the big stage with a club in the Champions League.

Klinsmann said that had been the reason he left the north London side with a heavy heart in 1995 for Bayern Munich right after winning the Footballer of the Year award.

“I’m a huge Tottenham fan and I’m also a huge Gareth Bale admirer,” Klinsmann said in an interview near his home in Southern California.

“I just hope, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed, that they make into the Champions League. The risk is very big that if you don’t go into the Champions League, you’ll lose Gareth Bale.”

Bale has scored 25 goals in all competitions for Spurs, many of them spectacular strikes from outside the penalty area.

His performances helped Tottenham reach the Europa League quarter-finals and have kept them in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League and a possible return to the Champions League.

Spurs are currently fifth in the league, two points behind Arsenal who have played a game more, and a win over Chelsea on Wednesday would boost their Champions League hopes.

Bale’s performances have also sparked widespread media reports that Spurs would value their prize asset at somewhere between 60 million pounds ($92.82 million)and 80 million pounds — a price tag which would scare off all but the richest of suitors.

“I think he deserves that recognition, footballer of the year.” Klinsmann said. “He deserves an amazing amount of admiration for how he’s played the last two or three seasons.

“He plays for Wales and can probably never play in a World Cup. A player like him needs to play on the biggest stage. The risk is if Tottenham don’t reach the biggest stage, the Champions League, that they might lose him.”

Klinsmann said that was, ultimately, the reason he left Spurs in 1995 right after winning Footballer of the Year.

“My reason for leaving the Spurs was only to play on a bigger stage,” he said.

“That’s why I left the Spurs for Bayern Munich many years ago. I wanted to play top European football.

“That might be the risk now with Gareth. But I hope they make it happen, qualify for the Champions League and play Champions League next season and can keep Gareth Bale at White Hart Lane. That is my big hope.”

(additional reporting by Tom Wagner)

Klinsmann, who before Bale was the last Spurs player to score 20 league goals in a season and also win the prestigious Footballer of the Year for the feat, said Bale was a tremendous talent but he would need to play on the big stage with a club in the Champions League.

Klinsmann said that had been the reason he left the north London side with a heavy heart in 1995 for Bayern Munich right after winning the Footballer of the Year award.

“I’m a huge Tottenham fan and I’m also a huge Gareth Bale admirer,” Klinsmann said in an interview near his home in Southern California.

“I just hope, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed, that they make into the Champions League. The risk is very big that if you don’t go into the Champions League, you’ll lose Gareth Bale.”

Bale has scored 25 goals in all competitions for Spurs, many of them spectacular strikes from outside the penalty area.

His performances helped Tottenham reach the Europa League quarter-finals and have kept them in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League and a possible return to the Champions League.

Spurs are currently fifth in the league, two points behind Arsenal who have played a game more, and a win over Chelsea on Wednesday would boost their Champions League hopes.

Bale’s performances have also sparked widespread media reports that Spurs would value their prize asset at somewhere between 60 million pounds ($92.82 million)and 80 million pounds — a price tag which would scare off all but the richest of suitors.

“I think he deserves that recognition, footballer of the year.” Klinsmann said. “He deserves an amazing amount of admiration for how he’s played the last two or three seasons.

“He plays for Wales and can probably never play in a World Cup. A player like him needs to play on the biggest stage. The risk is if Tottenham don’t reach the biggest stage, the Champions League, that they might lose him.”

Klinsmann said that was, ultimately, the reason he left Spurs in 1995 right after winning Footballer of the Year.

“My reason for leaving the Spurs was only to play on a bigger stage,” he said.

“That’s why I left the Spurs for Bayern Munich many years ago. I wanted to play top European football.

“That might be the risk now with Gareth. But I hope they make it happen, qualify for the Champions League and play Champions League next season and can keep Gareth Bale at White Hart Lane. That is my big hope.”

($1 = 0.6464 British pounds) (additional reporting by Tom Wagner)

In an interview with the online edition of the Die Zeit weekly, Hoeness said he felt suddenly ostracized by a German society that until recently admired him for building Bayern Munich into a soccer dynasty.

The Bayern president shocked Germany last week when said he had voluntarily alerted tax authorities in January to a Swiss bank account he held. He is now under investigation for suspected tax evasion. If convicted could be sentenced to jail.

He told Die Zeit that he earned but also lost large sums of money in financial trades from his private Swiss account.

Hoeness had close ties to Merkel and her Christian Democratic party and the scandal has hurt both in an election year. The conservatives dropped three points to 39 percent in a poll on Wednesday, their lowest point this year and just five months before a federal election.

“I made a foolish mistake, a giant blunder that I’m trying to correct as best as I possibly can,” Hoeness said. “I’m lashing myself over this. I messed up big time but I’m not an evil person.”

Hoeness, 61, had been an eminent figure in Germany, both for his managerial prowess building Bayern Munich into one of the world’s most successful football clubs on and off the pitch and his straight-talking views on politics and business that made him a popular guest on talk shows and in the chancellery.

“I now feel like I’ve been catapulted to the other side of society in just a few days – it’s like I don’t belong anymore,” he told Die Zeit after 10 days of silence on the affair.

“You can’t imagine what I’m going through. It’s an almost unbearable situation. I hardly sleep at night, I sweat a lot at night, something that never happened before. I toss and turn and toss again. I think about it all and have such doubts. An hour after waking up in the morning, I’m exhausted again.”

MERKEL DISTANCES HERSELF FROM HOENESS

Hoeness’s revelation has stunned Germans and dominated the media in the run-up to the national election on September 22, and a crucial regional election in the soccer club’s home state of Bavaria on September 15. Previously, he had publicly railed against tax evasion, winning applause from soccer fans and taxpayers.

On Monday the state prosecutor’s office in Munich said it was looking into whether Hoeness had disclosed the Swiss account before tax authorities had started their own investigation.

Hoeness said police raided his house on March 20. “My life changed at 7 a.m. on March 20,” Hoeness said. “The doorbell rang and I was still in my bathrobe. It was the state prosecutor standing there. That’s when my living hell began.”

Merkel has distanced herself from Hoeness. Her spokesman said the chancellor was disappointed in him.

“I would hope I’d get the chance to talk to her at some point in a private conversation and explain to her how it all happened, the whole screw-up,” Hoeness said.

The Hoeness affair has exposed Merkel’s government to criticism from the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens that it has been too lenient on tax cheats.

She is seeking a third term and running against her is SPD candidate Peer Steinbrueck who led a crackdown on tax havens when he was German finance minister. The SPD and Greens argued the affair showed that they were right to block a tax amnesty deal with Switzerland in December that was backed by Merkel.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

The weekly Forsa opinion poll for Stern magazine and RTL television found the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), falling an unusually steep three points to their lowest level this year.

The CDU/CSU’s coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP), were unchanged at five percent for a total of 44 percent. The coalition is seeking re-election in September. Movements in the Forsa poll are usually just one or two points in any week.

The center-left opposition was also unchanged in the Forsa poll at 37 percent with the Social Democrats (SPD) on 23 percent and the Greens on 14 percent. The Left party rose one to eight percent and fringe parties under five percent also gained.

Last week one of Germany’s most admired sports managers, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, voluntarily reported himself to authorities in a tax evasion investigation that exposed the government to criticism it is lenient on tax cheats.

“It’s mainly Hoeness’s closeness to the CSU (in Bavaria) that is harming the conservatives overall right now,” said Forsa managing director Manfred Guellner. He added that the SPD and Greens were not able to benefit from the tax evasion affair.

The 61-year-old Hoeness said he had alerted tax authorities in January that he held a Swiss bank account. Merkel, who knows Hoeness personally and has sought his advice on business issues, felt let down by him, her spokesman said.

Merkel is seeking a third term and the opposition SPD and Greens are trying to paint her as soft on white-collar crimes, especially tax evasion, a major campaign issue. Merkel is running against SPD candidate Peer Steinbrueck, who led a crackdown on tax havens when he was German finance minister.

Hoeness’s revelation has shocked Germans and dominated the media in the run-up to the national election on September 22, and a crucial regional election in the soccer club’s home state of Bavaria on September 15. Previously, he had publicly railed against tax evasion, winning applause from soccer fans and taxpayers.

On Monday the state prosecutor’s office in Munich said it was looking into whether Hoeness had disclosed the Swiss account before tax authorities had started their own investigation.

CSU leaders distanced themselves from Hoeness. The SPD and Greens argued that the affair showed that they were right to block a tax amnesty deal with Switzerland in December that was backed by Merkel and her Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

The SPD and Greens vetoed the deal in the upper house of parliament. It would have imposed taxes on assets hidden away by German citizens, but would not have revealed their identities. Hoeness turned himself in shortly after the Swiss deal died.

(Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Ignoring warnings against raising too many taxes at once
from their most successful leader, Greens state premier Winfried
Kretschmann, the 800 delegates voted to push to raise the top
income tax rate to 49 percent from 42 percent and introduce an
annual 1.5 percent wealth tax on assets above a million euros.

Greens delegates even booed one of their most respected
leaders, Tuebingen mayor Boris Palmer, when he said the tax
increases weren’t balanced – a humiliating slap in the face for
the “realo” or pragmatic wing that has long ruled the roost.

The Greens’ shift at the congress that ended on Sunday
seemed calculated to woo left-leaning voters and raise the
party’s chances of returning to power after September’s election
to end its eight-year stretch in opposition.

The Greens are the world’s most successful pro-environment
party after ruling Germany with the Social Democrats (SPD) from
1998 to 2005, but are itching to get back into power.

“It’s remarkable to me the way the Greens are drifting to
the left and how they kicked the shins of some of their most
successful leaders,” said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist
at Cologne University.

“The fundamental, hard-left wing of the party scored a
tremendous success at the party congress.”

Jaeger said the Greens’ leftward move was probably essential
if they wanted to return to power with their preferred partners,
the SPD. The SPD has struggled in polls and would win just 28
percent while the Greens are currently at 14 percent.

Together the centre-left is polling 42 percent, just behind
the 44 percent for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and
their Free Democrat (FDP) allies. While neither the centre-right
nor the centre-left will likely win a majority, analysts expect
Merkel to form another “grand coalition” with the SPD.

“The Greens realize that if they don’t move left, Germany
will end up with another ‘grand coalition’. But if they go left
and win new voters there, they might have enough,” said Jaeger.

“For a whole generation of Greens leaders, this is their
last chance to get back into power and become ministers. They
want it badly,” he added.

The Greens’ former environment minister Juergen Trittin is
58, former consumer affairs minister Renate Kuenast is 57 and
Greens co-chair Claudia Roth is also 57. The prominent trio went
all out to push the party towards the left even though
Kretschmann and Palmer warned against it.

‘NO COALITION WITH CONSERVATIVES’

“The SPD is the only coalition partner that will help us
make Germany greener,” Trittin said, explicitly distancing
himself from previous Greens party talk of keeping options open
for a coalition with Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and
their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

“We’re not going to form a coalition with a band of corrupt
amigos like that,” Tritten said, referring to tax evasion and
corruption scandals that have battered the CSU in recent weeks.

The Greens endorsed a platform calling the SPD their
preferred coalition partners but did not rule out other options.

The Greens began as a peacenik ecological movement with a
far-left tilt three decades ago, and became famous for their
unpredictable and self-destructive party congress battles that
could stretch beyond midnight.

But late last year, at their last party congress in Hanover,
they made it clear they were no longer set against the idea of a
coalition with Merkel.

The party has ruled one traditionally conservative state,
Baden-Wuerttemberg, with the SPD as junior partners since 2011
and ruled in Hamburg with the CDU for three years – a so-called
“black-green” coalition that gave the Greens respect as a
fiscally responsible movement.

The Greens are proud of their newfound clout. But in Berlin
that push towards the centre was reversed – to the chagrin of
Kretschmann, who is the party’s only star attraction.

“I think it causes problems when the overall tax burden is
too high,” Kretschmann said. “I don’t think one should raise
more than two taxes in any one four-year period in power. We’re
not going to do anything that hurts the small and medium-sized
business. That’s why we’re so strong in Baden-Wuerttemberg.”

(Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Stephen Powell and
Andrew Heavens)

It was the first time an SPD leader had addressed a Greens congress. Sigmar Gabriel, whose party would need a coalition with the rising pro-environment party to have any chance of leading the next government, delivered a passionate plea to the Greens to stop flirting with Merkel’s conservatives.

He appeared determined to smooth over the tensions this has raised and was remarkably complimentary about a rival only 33 years old that the SPD has sometimes treated as a poor stepsister.

“Our opponents want us to maul each other,” Gabriel said. “As in any relationship, you want to look around and see what’s available out there before you decide to move into a flat with a new partner.

“There’s no harm looking. We all do that,” he said, before adding: “You’re a special party, you’ve had a decisive influence on Germany and you’ve made Germany a better place.”

Gabriel said only an SPD-Greens coalition would have the courage and determination to take on financial markets, which he blamed for much of the economic turmoil in Europe and around the world in recent years.

“There are only two parties in Germany that can tame the financial markets, and that’s you and us,” he said.

The Greens were once a left-wing fringe party with between five and eight percent of the vote. But in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and a successful CDU-Greens coalition at state level in Hamburg, they are now comfortably Germany’s third national party with about 15 percent in opinion polls.

In the conservative state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Greens finished ahead of the SPD in a 2011 election and installed their first state premier, Winfried Kretschmann.

While the SPD make a more natural center-left ally for them, many Greens want to keep their options open in the likely event that SPD and Greens combined fall short of a majority in September’s election.

Together, they currently trail Merkel’s center-left coalition of conservatives and Free Democrats (FDP) by about 44 percent to 42 in surveys. Since neither coalition is likely to win a majority, a CDU-SPD “grand coalition” appears the likeliest outcome.

However, Merkel’s conservatives have also reciprocated the Greens’ advances as an option to stay in power.

While Merkel remains Germany’s most popular politician by far, the FDP has plunged from 14.6 percent in the 2009 election to around 5 percent in polls, suggesting that she may not win a new majority with the FDP.

The SPD, polling around 20 percent, and the Greens campaigned together in 2002 and 2005 – a tactic also employed by the CDU-FDP alliance that can boost both parties’ votes.

(Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Consistently polling about 15 percent, the Greens hope to
form a centre-left coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD)
after the Sept. 22 election, but are lagging Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s centre-right coalition – also likely to fall short of a
majority. The SPD-Greens bloc already controls Germany’s upper
house of parliament, the Bundesrat.

Greens leaders, notorious for quarrelling at election-year
congresses, want to raise the top income tax rate to 49 percent
from 42 percent and introduce a 15 percent wealth tax on assets
over a million euros ($1.3 million).

Rather than basking in the media spotlight at the weekend as
a unified party to show Germans they are ready to rule again,
the Greens infighting could turn the congress into a battle that
costs votes in September’s election.

The Greens state premier of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Winfried
Kretschmann, warned party leaders in Berlin against twisting the
screws too tightly after the German Chambers of Industry warned
Greens tax plans, which include new levy on corporate assets,
could endanger 450,000 jobs.

The four Greens leaders, including lead candidates for
chancellor Juergen Trittin and Katrin Goering-Eckart, appealed
to Kretschmann to dispel fears about the burdens of the party’s
tax plan that they say would affect only 10 percent of firms.

Careful not to attack Kretschmann, the party’s star after he
was elected as the first Greens state premier in German history,
the leaders nevertheless urged him to back off.

“We’d be delighted if you could help us to reject the false
impression you’ve raised,” they wrote in an open letter to
Kretschmann, who runs one of Germany’s richest states.

POACHING SUPPORT

The world’s most successful pro-environment party after
seven years in power with the SPD from 1998 to 2005, the Greens
started in 1980 as a fringe left-wing movement born in the heat
of 1970s radicalism. They have since moved towards the centre.

The Greens have won supporters in rural parts of Germany,
increasingly poaching voters away from Merkel’s conservatives
having also cut into SPD support for years.

The Greens were flying high before the 1998 federal election
until a row broke out over petrol tax increases at a party rally
in Magdeburg that sent support plunging to six percent from 10
percent. They want to prevent another such debacle.

However, the Greens are expected to debate long into the
evening on Friday and Saturday over 2,600 modifications demanded
by members to the party manifesto. Party leaders admit the
number sounds intimidating but say many of the changes are over
grammatical issues or clarity.

“We’ve got a lot of school teachers in our party,” said one
Greens leader. “The number shows we’re a lively party.”
($1 = 0.7683 euros)

(Additional reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann; Editing by
Louise Ireland)