Press sees further battles ahead for Schroeder

German papers have given a wary welcome to Friday's vote in parliament approving a package of reforms in tax, social and employment law, widely presented beforehand as a vital test for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

While many agree the vote has given the left-of-centre coalition some breathing space, the overwhelming feeling is that it was only a small victory in a much larger war, and one with a very uncertain outcome.

The daily Berliner Zeitung says the chancellor has at least succeeded in getting the support of his own MPs, many of whom, particularly on the left, are unhappy about the course of reform.

"Done! The red-green coalition proved that it still exists, that it wants to carry on governing, and that it will prop up Gerhard Schroeder when needed," it says.

The much-needed economic recovery can no longer be talked into being by political waffle Bild-Zeitung

However, the paper wearily notes, the reforms passed yesterday may still be thrown out by the opposition-dominated upper house, and further difficult reforms are in the pipeline.

"The chancellor's victory yesterday was just a stage in a long process. The most difficult stages still lie ahead."

'Anti-climax'

The Frankfurter Rundschau thinks the whole event was an anti-climax, arguing that the opposition Christian Democrats preferred to delay the real hand-to-hand combat to the upper house.

"The great battle originally expected yesterday was not fought, it was merely a procedural affair," it says.

"The opposition was too clever to look for a fight in which it had the weaker hand. The ruling coalition was not stupid enough to lose it."

The German way is one of belated, small and often fainthearted steps Die Welt

"Get on with it!" the tabloid Bild-Zeitung cries, and argues that the onus is now firmly on the opposition to at least wave through the much-delayed tax reforms, finally approved yesterday.

"Thirty million German taxpayers expect that the public promises will finally be kept. No more excuses! The much-needed economic recovery can no longer be talked into being by political waffle," it says.

'Fainthearted'

The right-of-centre Die Welt is sceptical and thinks the government's much-hyped "historic reforms" are not daring and forward-looking enough to deserve the name.

"The German way, which has been worrying the rest of the globalised world for years now, is one of belated, small and often fainthearted steps."

They are saving money at the expense of those who cannot defend themselves, the weakest die tagezeitung

"No chancellor can be happy with such a victory. The reforms are going in the right direction, but the population is anxious and confused, and, for the moment at least, refuses to give them its wholehearted support.

"Reform German-style - no fun indeed," the paper concludes.

'Social disparities'

The leftist die tageszeitung on the other hand, while duly congratulating the chancellor on his success, dislikes the whole thrust of the reforms being pushed by the country's political class.

"They are saving money at the expense of those who cannot defend themselves, the weakest."

"The fundamental question remains," it adds. "How large can social disparities be in a stable society?"

This, the Berliner Zeitung believes, is the core problem for Mr Schroeder's own party.

"Neither Schroeder nor any other Social Democrats can aggressively sell any of these reforms to voters. These reforms contradict the age-old principles of Germany's Social Democrats, who have failed to find any new ones."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.