On Sunday, the German public took to the ballot box and cast their votes. Political uncertainty hovered over the nation that the iron-willed Angela Merkel has led for the past 16 years. 

The official preliminary results showed center-left Social Democrats (SPD) won the election with 25.7 percent of the votes, slightly ahead of Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which gained 24.1 percent, a historic low. 

With both the SPD's Olaf Scholz and the CDU/CSU's Armin Laschet vowing to strive for a government coalition, everyone is left wondering what Germany and Europe would become, as a new German chancellor would take center stage to deal with Europe's complex set of problems.  

Merkel's legacy

Angela Merkel played an instrumental role in establishing Germany as the leading economic power in the region and a champion of the union. Over the past couple of years, the German chancellor has weathered various storms that both Germany and Europe have faced: a refugee crisis, the Eurozone almost collapsing and the coronavirus pandemic rearing its ugly head again.

Merkel's towering legacy will continue for a long time to come. However, her policies will not be continued, most probably, by her successor, whoever it is.

"'Merkelism' is no longer sustainable. Merkel may have adroitly managed the status quo across the continent, but Europe's challenges now – the pandemic, climate change, geopolitical competition – require radical solutions, not cosmetic changes. The EU needs a visionary Germany," read a report by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Any new successor in Germany will try to lead Europe with a fresh set of ideas, proposals and policies that ensures he is different from Merkel, who ruled Germany for 16 years and is stepping down only so that a new leader can take her place and implement policies that are widely considered more liberal than conservative.

Leadership vacuum

Merkel was a unifying factor who steered Europe away from crises, most of them economic, during her 16-year stint as the German chancellor. With her gone, Europe needs a new leader who has the stature and political clout and is capable enough to weather a new set of storms fueled by the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pluralists in Europe and around the world held Merkel in high esteem due to her skillful diplomacy, her ability to shift the focus away from nonsensical discourse toward policy. Merkel's ability to grant concessions and, at the same time, hold her own at certain stages need to be implemented by the person who succeeds her in leading Europe.

The various European countries need to realize that with Merkel not at the helm of affairs, they need to be more flexible with one another and form a closer bond. Political bickering among countries needs to end, and they need to get on the same page on important issues such as climate change and the refugee crisis.

Europe must be careful in passing the baton of European leadership from Merkel to someone who enjoys popularity across his or her own country and aligns with the pluralistic values of other countries on the continent as well.

Europe's new set of challenges can only be solved when policies driven by unity are pushed. The new European leader has to ensure that, regardless of whether he emerges from Germany or any other country.

'New dynamic' between Germany and France

Both the countries have been political rivals, with France envying Germany's leadership role at the European Union over the past decade or so. However, with Merkel stepping down, France's Emmanuel Macron will be Europe's uncontested leader, considering the country's stature and his seniority to the new German chancellor, whoever he or she may be.

A new relationship dynamic between the two countries may emerge, considering there have been disagreements between Macron and Merkel over the past couple of years on policies. While Merkel managed to engage Russia on several issues and away from China, Macron was a staunch critic of Germany inviting Russia to partner with the country on its energy projects. Macron was also against putting Russia into a choke hold over Germany's energy resources.

In January 2022, France assumes the six-month presidency of the European Union, which could further boost Macron's chances of winning another term at the office and further solidify France's leadership role in the EU.

With France in a more commanding position in the EU, Paris will try to assert itself more in a divided EU after Merkel is gone. Germany will try not to let go of that leadership so soon with a new chancellor in place. The fractious nature of the two countries will come out into the open, and the two may be locked in political confrontation for months to come.

European integration

Germany, referred to most as Europe's economic engine and the driver of its economy, will lose Merkel in the coming months. Merkel was the driver of European integration policy and the one who kept the union apart. In the coming months, it will be increasingly difficult for Europe to pursue an integration policy in the absence of Merkel.

For one, Macron is likely to lead the EU after Merkel steps down from her post. However, recent polls have indicated that he is not as popular as Merkel was, and with the issues that Europe will face in the days and months to come, a leader needs to exhibit political unity. Macron is not as popular in pluralists in Europe, who voted in an opinion poll to vote for Merkel in huge numbers if a hypothetical presidential contest between the two was launched.

The EU, as it emerged earlier this year, cannot stop arguing and bickering. In June, Hungary's prime minister was confronted by various EU leaders over what they said were his government's efforts to implement an anti-gay-rights law. With Merkel not at the head of the EU table anymore, such differences are likely to come to the fore and bear not-so-good consequences for European integration.

(Zahid Hussain Khan is currently doing a fellowship at the Center for European Integration in Bonn, Germany. He has 15 years of working experience as a journalist.) 

(Cover: The EU flag and the German national flag fly outside the Reichstag, the seat of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, November 29, 2012. /Reuters)