There are great expectations of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, in 2007. Not only is she occupying the chair of the European Union for the next six months and the Group of Eight industrialised countries for the whole year; she is also one of few established western leaders not preparing for political retirement.

Yet if Ms Merkel, Germany’s first woman chancellor, is straining under this burden, she does not show it. Giving her first interview as chancellor to an international newspaper, she chuckles and smiles, dispenses coquettish winks and even delivers a few humorous asides – including an affectionate swipe at French president Jacques Chirac’s command of English.