France's comparative advantages are clearly not the same as Germany's, and where France has comparative advantages, a strong Euro is not a positive thing. It costs more to visit France, French agro-alimentary products cost more to export consumers, ditto viticulture, perfumes, et c.

And where Germany has advantages, a strong Euro is, generally speaking, not a negative thing. Heavy-duty trucks, machinery, medical equipment, high-end petro-chemicals and pistachio-infused bratwurst. Well, everythng but that last item.

A common social, fiscal and industrial policy would help; my point is precisely that Germany is pursuing, today, fiscal and industrial policies which do not perfectly serve French interests. But this ignores monetary policy, and this is important; the ECB is de facto pursuing a "one-size-fits-all" monetary policy, with member states hamstrung by the growth and stability pact re-inforcing the one-speed mechanism, and that monetary policy today is also more in line with German interests than it is with French interests. It is notable, for instance, that Sarkozy was not alone in criticizing ECB policy in the Presidential campaign - Royal was right there with him. And if the Germans aren't complaining, this could easily be because they have nothing to complain about...


The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill