It may not be so much the problem of not giving something back, as the apparent blindness to where Germany's interests really lie.

A broken euro and single market are not in Germany's interest. If the single currency were to collapse, the mark would suffer a pretty massive revaluation relative to other European currencies, not to speak of the return of borders and tariffs. That may be an extreme scenario. But the German attitude seems to be "wherever it's heading, it's not our problem".

But it is.