BERLIN For most Europeans, the Mediterranean is an annual object of longing the holiday idyll where they spend the best weeks of the year. But many Europeans sunny view of the region has yielded to lowering clouds of pessimism.

A grand coalition is not the worst option. Nothing fades as quickly as the glow of an election victory, and the German idyll will soon be disturbed by harsh reality the European Union s simmering crisis, Syria, Iran, and energy policy.

In Hollande s case, the rare glimpses of a comprehensive vision recall France s successful social democracy of the 1960 s a strong welfare state, together with abundant public investment to revive economic growth and boost employment. Hollande s reference point seems to be the post war idyll of his youth, a time of rapid growth, demographic recovery, scarce immigration, and scant global competition.