German CEOs get in Merkel’s face.

Under the title “German Industries Rebuke Chancellor: As Polls Slide, Merkel‘s Coalition Risks Alienating a Longtime Ally Over Taxes” the Wall Street Journal‘s Vanessa Fuhrmans (with contribution from Andrea Thomas) write today that „Germany’s ruling center-right coalition, struggling to reverse its declining approval ratings, is losing support from one of its traditional constituencies—big business.“

Seldom in German politics, dozens of Germany’s corporate leaders, including the heads of BASF, Bertelsmann, Deutsche Bank, Metro, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp signed an open letter to Chancellor Merkel’s government, warning that new energy taxes threaten the German economy.

German energy prices, Fuhrmans writes, „higher than the European Union average, are a sensitive issue to corporate interests, whose domestic manufacturing sites and offices are responsible for some 50% of the country’s electricity consumption. BASF, which operates the world’s largest chemical manufacturing site at its Ludwigshafen headquarters, alone comprises more than 1% of Germany’s total energy consumption.“

The open letter is unusual for several reasons. For one, it‘s public. Lobbying in Germany is done discreetly by trade groups, away from the media. Second, CEOs of major companies are out in front. Third, their unanimity. Merkel’s spokesman on Friday went into spin mode: “The chancellor regards this as a completely legitimate contribution to the discussion; there’s no objection to that.“

For those of you who have experience working with Germans you might be a bit surprised to read that an open letter is considered untypical for how German industry communicates with Berlin. For the Germans are known for being rather direct in their communication, especially about things they either don‘t like or don‘t agree with. They separate far more than we Americans between what is personal and what is business, „getting in your face“ about issue x or y, only then at the end of a contentious day of debating to invite you and your U.S. colleagues out for dinner and beers in the local Biergarten. And when they‘re in the Biergarten it‘s all relaxing, laughing, enjoying, and not about business. „Geschaeft ist Geschaeft. Schnapps ist Schnapps“ translates loosely into „Business is business. Fun is fun.“

The intercultural question is, when do Germans get direct, when indirect? When do Americans get direct, when indirect? Most of you have experienced, or can imagine, the dangers involved when this issue is misunderstood or misanticipated. Germans „getting in your face“ when diplomacy, tact, discretion are essential to handling a complex situation. Americans going hyper-political correct, indirect, almost evasive, when a situation demands straight-shooting honesty, transparency and accountability.

I‘ll never forget an instance. 1997. I was back then a staffer for the Christian Democrats in the Bundestag, helping the leadership establish, maintain and deepen relations to Washington. The Congressional Study Group on Germany had sent a small delegation of highly influential House members – Democrats and Republicans – to Germany. Relationship-building. A yearly thing. This year in Germany. Next year in the U.S. No intense talks about policy. More about general trends. An overview of how Germans and Americans see the challenges in both countries and in the world. Asking questions. Listening. Understanding the other perspective. Low-key. Friendly. We‘re allies, friends, our economies deeply intertwined.

One evening, after meetings, talks, a long stroll through the lovely German town of Bad Muenstereifel, a member of the German Bundestag felt it her duty to address a political bone of contention between the U.S. and Germany. The Helms-Burton Act, which extended the territorial application of the initial embargo of Cuba to apply to foreign companies trading with Cuba. All had finished dinner. Coffee and dessert were being served. The atmosphere was just right. The time when relationships take on real contours. She stood up, asked for everyone‘s attention, then launched into her speech. „The Helms-Burton Act was absolutely unacceptable to Germany.“ You get the message.

To say the least, the Americans, including our embassy‘s second in command, were taken aback. Faces, gestures frozen. Stillness. The German parliamentarian paused briefly, perhaps taken aback herself, but continued on. (We all know what it‘s like to begin digging a hole, notice that it‘s not a good idea, only then to continue on in single-minded bull-headedness.) Well, this well-intentioned woman simply kept digging.

Digging down to the point where our American diplomat, very experienced and highly-respected in Germany, felt obliged to reply, in carefully formulated sentences, that the United States, as a sovereign nation, continues to reserve the right to pass laws which it feels may serve the interests of the American people.

Now for the German readers of this blogpost, that is about as strong a reply as can possibly be made by an American. He did it quietly, with a sober, serious expression, his body language signaling modesty, almost meekness. His eyes, however, focused and steeled. A few words. He then sat down. The German parliamentarian had sensed the catastrophe, but, I suspect, had no clue about the cultural differences between Americans and Germans. When, where, with whom and how controversial issues should be addressed.

Now, for those Americans among us who are now gloating about how Germans don‘t really understand Americans, America, American business culture: Stop. Don‘t. Get small, get humble. And fast. For every misinterpretation, misunderstanding, misreading the Germans have of us, we have at least one, if not two, of the same of the Germans. John Magee included.