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Chancellor Merkel with the future US President Biden (at the Munich Security Conference 2015)
Photo: Christian Thiel / imago images
The good news: Joe Biden can't get any worse than Donald Trump.
Trump, who was still the US President for two and a half months, was a distant and erratic partner for the federal government.
In the past four years, it has been emphasized again and again that even under - or despite - Trump, the close partnership with America was maintained.
After all, transatlantic relations are a cornerstone of the Federal Republic.
But Trump obviously didn't really care.
He mostly treated the Germans like any nation, only to then suddenly re-emphasize his ties to the land of his ancestors.
That was never reliable.
In addition, the federal government did not have access to the Republican and his closest circle.
For Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government, Washington has become a kind of political black box.
Optimism in the Foreign Office
In Berlin it is assumed that with the Democrat Joe Biden, Germany will again have a reliable and accessible partner.
From Biden's long time as a senator and vice-president under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, there is a network of connections across the Atlantic.
In the SPIEGEL interview, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) said: "We want to invest in this cooperation for a new transatlantic start, a New Deal."
The federal government will approach Biden: "We need a new common understanding of the global rules of the game and have to play in a team again."
Angela Merkel, who will meet the fourth US president with Biden during her chancellorship, wrote on the weekend that she was looking forward to "future cooperation with President Biden" and that the transatlantic friendship was "irreplaceable".
But it is also clear: it will not be easy with Biden.
The interests of the USA and Germany simply diverge at some points.
Even with a new president, "protectionism will increase, one of the answers to the corona crisis in the USA will be: Jobs at home first," said ex-Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in SPIEGEL.
And with certain topics it could even be more difficult than with Trump, some in Berlin believe.
The Federal Foreign Office is a little more optimistic.
Not only would the tonality improve under President Biden, the US State Department could again play a more independent role.
Under Trump it was demoted to a kind of subordinate authority of the White House.
The prospect that Trump's former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, would have been promoted to foreign minister, could have destroyed the last structures of German-American relations.
However, among those who are traded as Biden's candidates for the posts of foreign minister and national security advisor are many who are well known in Berlin, some of whom even speak German.
Dealing with China, defense budget - there are enough controversial issues
This is another reason why the federal government is certain that the number of foreign policy surprises from Washington with Biden as president will decrease.
At least the Federal Foreign Office firmly assumes that the Biden administration will inform Berlin in advance of important advances.
It is also expected that Biden will visit Europe relatively quickly and - unlike Trump and his Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo often did - also come to Germany.
Only: With most issues, little is likely to move so quickly.
The tightened extraterritorial sanctions with which Washington is
threatening
Germany, among other things, because of the
Nord Stream 2 pipeline
, were an initiative of the Democrats, i.e. the Biden party.
Probably also to counter Trump's soft stance towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Compared to Russia, one expects an even tougher pace in Berlin.
The same applies to
China.
In the election campaign, Republicans and Democrats fought each other to see who would be tough on Beijing.
It
shouldn't get any easier when it comes to
defense spending
either.
"Nobody should indulge in the dream that the pressure on Germany in terms of defense spending will ease," said Ben Hodges, who was stationed in Germany for many years as commander of the US Army, told SPIEGEL.
The Obama administration was already very strict with Berlin on the issue.
Nevertheless, Hodges also says, a lot will change in positive terms under a new president.
"The tone will become more balanced and more cooperative again," he says.
Then "it also becomes easier to talk about disagreements and find a solution".
Specifically, the general foresees a
halt to the withdrawal of troops from Germany
, which Trump wanted to push through against the will of the military.
"Small parts of the plan will always be left over, as Biden and his team are realistic about the threat from Russia," says Hodges.
When it comes to Afghanistan, too, at least more cooperation rather than confrontation can be expected.
Federal government relies on Biden as a partner in climate protection
There are hopes in Berlin that Biden - unlike Trump - will again become
more involved in multilateral organizations
such as the United Nations.
The Chinese have gained influence in many bodies there.
Trump's contempt for the UN led to sometimes bizarre scenes: A Trump representative recently handed out a meeting at a UN meeting in such a way that the Chinese ambassador rebuked the American on behalf of all other countries.
The greatest hopes for Biden are in Berlin when it
comes to the
Paris climate protection agreement,
from which the United States withdrew under Trump.
During the election campaign, the Democrat promised a multi-billion dollar climate program.
Even if the US did not formally re-accede to the Paris Agreement, under President Biden it would in fact become a partner on the issue again.
Chancellor Merkel can hardly wait for Trump to leave the White House.
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