Virtuous, perhaps, Merkel endlessly in charge (7)
I believe the answer is:
angelic
'virtuous' is the definition.
(angelic can mean behaving like an angel)
'merkel endlessly in charge' is the wordplay.
'merkel' becomes 'angela' (I've seen this before).
'endlessly' means to remove the last letter.
'in charge' becomes 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge').
'angela' with its last letter removed is 'angel'.
'angel'+'ic'='ANGELIC'
'perhaps' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for angelic that I've seen before include "sweet-natured too" , "Saintly" , "Nice gal (anag.)" , "Heavenly - entrancing" , "Pure; innocent" .)