'Negative EU campaign' rocks German coalition[fr][de] 

Elections in Germany are usually highly civil affairs, but the SPD is resorting to a series of negative ads for the European vote, hoping they can profit from voter anxiety about the financial crisis and the record economic downturn. 

One SPD poster says a vote for Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) is a vote for rock-bottom wages. Another pictures a grinning shark wearing a tie, likening the CDU's liberal allies, the Free Democrats (FDP), to financial predators. 

"It's negative campaigning, which hasn't really worked in Germany so far," said Josef Schmid from the University of Tuebingen. 

"The SPD would never dare to take the risk of walking down this path in a federal election. They want to test out what voters will say about it," he said. 

For both the European and the federal elections, opinion polls show the SPD trailing the CDU by more than 10 percentage points. The two rivals currently rule together in an uneasy "grand coalition". 

Merkel's challenger, SPD Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, faces a dilemma: he needs to highlight policy differences with Merkel without attacking her policies too openly, as this could backfire and hurt his image with voters. 

He has trodden carefully so far, rarely criticising Merkel by name, but attacks are likely to increase if the SPD has success with its European election ads. 

In their European campaigns, both parties have focused on domestic issues linked to the financial crisis. 

Merkel's conservatives have stressed their opposition to Turkey's EU membership (EurActiv 11/05/09), but also highlighted their reliability in managing the economy and promised tax relief. 

Steinmeier launched an attack on the CDU during an election speech on Sunday, saying his SPD had led Germany's response to the financial crisis, while the CDU bickered. "They make a pile of headless chickens look like an organised team!," Steinmeier said. 

The SPD's more aggressive strategy could prove risky. If it fails to deliver results and the party has a poor showing in the EU vote, it could weigh on voter views of the party and make the federal quest even harder. 

Pollsters say voters are also likely to watch three state elections at the end of August before making up their minds who to vote for in September. 

The SPD could struggle to gain power in the states without the support of the far-left 'Linke' party, a grouping of SPD defectors and former East German communists. 

(EurActiv with Reuters.)