The European Union’s biggest member goes to the polls in less than four weeks. Yet while Germany’s economic prospects rest precariously on a recovery in foreign demand, the campaign has been free of any real debate about the country’s extraordinary export dependence. This is worrying.

A sustainable EU economic recovery requires a rebalancing between its surplus and deficit countries. Germany will need to grow under its own steam while others reduce their reliance on domestic demand and boost exports. Trade imbalances have narrowed during the downturn, but addressing the underlying disequilibriums will require changes in member states’ economic structures. If this does not happen, long-term growth in Europe will be weak and tensions within the eurozone inevitable.