One in four Germans would vote for party which promised to quit the euro as anti-establishment spirit grows across EU

26% of German voters want to vote for eurosceptic party, says poll

News comes on day new anti-euro party is set up by group of academics

A quarter of Germans would vote for a party pledging to quit the euro, according to a poll published today.
The survey suggests that if they had the option, voters in Germany might record the same anti-establishment sentiments as were seen in the recent election in Italy.
The country's mainstream parties are all pro-euro, although a new party being launched today describes the single currency as 'a fatal mistake' and calls for Germany to withdraw.

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A German taboo on nationalism, rooted in atonement for the crimes of the Nazi era, has helped to muffle eurosceptic voices.
But the poll conducted by TNS-Emnid for the weekly Focus magazine showed 26 per cent of Germans would consider backing a party that wanted to take Germany out of the euro and as many as four in 10 Germans in the 40-49 age bracket would do so.

 

The survey, which canvassed the views of 1,007 people on March 6-7, coincides with the launch of a new party, Alternative for Germany (AfD).
AfD and other German critics of the euro say it is unfair and undemocratic to expect Germany to bear the costs of other countries' economic mistakes and call for a return to the Deutschmark.
'Every people should be able democratically to decide its own currency,' the AfD says on its website.

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Emnid chief Klaus-Peter Schoeppner said the survey results were partly a signal from conservative supporters of Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition that they expected a strong defence of German interests in Europe and would not accept any moves towards 'euro bonds', a sharing of liability for euro zone debt.
'There is scope in Germany for a protest party to win two or three per cent support but it would be very difficult for it to enter parliament,' he said.
A political party needs to win five per cent to get seats in Germany's Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.
Despite the euro zone crisis, which has pitched southern Europe into deep recession, Germany is faring relatively well.

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The new eurosceptic party, the AfD, comprising mostly academics and businessmen, is due to hold its first meeting on Monday evening in a suburb of Frankfurt.
'Let's put an end to this euro!' reads the message on the front page of its new website at www.alternativefuer.de.
'The Federal Republic of Germany is in the deepest crisis in its history. The introduction of the euro was a fatal mistake that is threatening our prosperity. The old parties are grizzled and worn out. They are stubbornly refusing to admit their mistake and correct it.'
The AfD said the European Central Bank should not be allowed to buy up the debt of struggling euro zone members. It fears this could stoke inflation that will destroy the value of Germans' savings.
The party will be hoping to capitalise on the anti-establishment feeling which led to the strong performance of comedian Beppe Grillo at the Italian election two weeks ago.
Merkel's conservatives are tipped to win most votes in the September election, helped partly by her tough stance on euro zone bailouts and her insistence that heavily indebted countries embrace harsh austerity measures.
The main opposition centre-left Social Democrats and Greens have broadly backed Merkel's efforts to tackle the euro crisis.