Angela Merkel may well be able to limp along as chancellor for the remaining three years of her mandate. But neither investors nor Germany’s European partners should take lightly the fact that she has stated her exit date and will soon be stepping down as chair of the conservative CDU party she has led for 18 years.

On Monday Merkel announced her decision to the party’s executives, just one day after the CDU was once again trounced in regional elections — this time in wealthy Hesse, the closest thing Germany has to a swing state and home to Frankfurt, the country’s financial capital.