Merkel rules out EU job after serving out term

Berlin (dpa) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out taking a leadership role in the European Union after serving out her term as chancellor, saying she “will not be available for any political office, no matter where, not even in Europe.”  

Merkel has ceded her long-standing leadership of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and has said that she will not run for another term as chancellor when her current one runs out 2021.  

Speculation about her future career has been rife, and was fuelled further by comments in an interview published Thursday with six major European newspapers. Merkel said her worries about the EU “awakens in me once again an increasing feeling of responsibility to take care of Europe’s fate together with others.”