AfD softens EU exit stance to seek reform of bloc and eurozone

Alternative for Germany (AfD) is reportedly debating a reform of the European Union’s structure, backing away from its longstanding demand for Germany to exit the EU and the eurozone.

An internal party strategy paper obtained by the daily newspaper Die Welt and the news agency Reuters signals a new phase in the organisation’s European policy.

The document in question was drawn up by the party’s lawmakers in the European Parliament, the Bundestag, and state parliaments, and was discussed at a meeting held last month.

The drafted proposal envisages transforming the eurozone into a looser alliance of sovereign states.

Under the plan, member states would be held more accountable for their own national debts, while the intervention powers of the European Central Bank (ECB) would be curtailed.

According to Die Welt, the initiative aims to place the euro single currency on a permanent footing anchored in individual responsibility and liability.

AfD seeks structure focused on internal market and security

According to the strategy paper, AfD advocates restricting the remit of the EU primarily to the internal market, the protection of external borders, security matters, and selected technology projects.

The party also demands that member states be granted national-level opt-outs in policy areas such as migration, social services, and fiscal policy.

Rene Aust, head of AfD’s European Parliament delegation, asserted that the document demonstrates the party’s “pro-European orientation”.

Aust noted that they wish to improve cooperation with neighbouring states, protect trade and freedom of movement, and jointly defend external borders.

In contrast, AfD lawmaker Peter Boehringer stated that the paper should not be viewed as a change of course, describing it instead as an implementation plan designed to put existing principles into practice.

The text proposes that, should the envisaged reforms fail to materialise, Germany’s future European and monetary policy should be determined by the public through a referendum.

The draft further calls for abandoning the direct popular election of members of the European Parliament, proposing instead that representatives be appointed via national parliaments.

Separatist line remains in party platform

AfD had long demanded Germany’s departure from the EU (“Dexit”) in an explicit nod to Britain’s Brexit process, advocating its replacement with a newly established European community composed of independent sovereign nations.

The party’s current official platform retains the objective of quitting the bloc and establishing a new European Economic Community if fundamental reforms cannot be realised.

A draft election manifesto had similarly argued that Germany must withdraw from EU membership to liberate the country from foreign domination.

Party co-leader Alice Weidel said in late August that the euro was an unstable currency and argued that a campaign should be mounted for Germany to exit the eurozone.

Weidel claimed that Germany was in a distinctly better economic position prior to adopting the single currency, asserting that working-class populations are currently being impoverished.

Weidel also claimed that, should they come to power, they would close national borders and withdraw from the Schengen Agreement, arguing that open borders threaten domestic security.

According to a polling average compiled by Politico, AfD ranks first across Germany with a 28% share of voter support.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, sits in second place at 19%, while the Greens place third at 15%.

At the beginning of October, national support for the party was recorded as reaching the 30% mark for the first time, while backing for the governing CDU/CSU bloc slipped to 18%.

AfD placed first in two state parliamentary elections in September. On 7 September, the party secured first place in the state of Saxony-Anhalt with 43.8% of the vote, whereas the governing CDU recorded 17.2%, its lowest result since 1998.

AfD also finished ahead in the state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on 20 September with 38.2%.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) took 35.5% in the state, while the CDU, which fell to 4.9%, was shut out of a state parliament for the first time in modern German history.