50 years of French-German friendship | 21 comments (21 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: 50 years of French-German friendship (none / 1)

Jean Quatremer is far from being a cynical Eurosceptic, yet here's the close of his piece today in Libération (from his blog):

Des désaccords franco-allemand qui plombent l'Union - Coulisses de Bruxelles		Franco-German disagreements weigh the Union down - Brussels Backstage
Cette incapacité franco-allemande à trouver un compromis se traduit par une forte révision à la baisse des ambitions européennes. Plus question d'un budget conséquent, alors même que la crise de la zone euro a montré que les transferts financiers étaient une condition sine qua non de la survie de la monnaie unique, plus question de fédéralisme et de solidarité financière, alors que les marchés jugent ce saut nécessaire pour leur garantir la pérennité de l'euro. Ce coup de frein est pour le moins préoccupant, la crise étant loin d'être terminée, même si les menaces pesant directement sur la monnaie unique se sont dissipées grâce à l'action de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) qui a annoncé, le 26 juillet, qu'elle était prête à « faire tout ce qui est nécessaire pour préserver l'euro ». Mais, comme le reconnaît l'un des membres du directoire, le Belge Peter Praet, la BCE n'a fait que « gagner du temps ». Un gel de l'intégration pour cause de désaccord franco-allemand ne peut que préparer la prochaine crise, avec les conséquences économiques et humaines désastreuses auxquelles on assiste, les déséquilibres de la zone euro, notamment sur le plan démocratique, étant loin d'être corrigés.		This Franco-German failure to find a compromise results in a strong downscaling of European ambitions. No question of a budget at the level of needs, even though the Eurozone crisis has shown that financial transfers are a sine que non for the survival of the single currency, no question of federalism and financial solidarity, though the markets consider this leap forward necessary to guarantee the perennity of the euro. This slowdown is to say the least worrisome, the crisis being far from over, even if the direct threats to the single currency have been dispersed by the action of the European Central Bank (ECB) which announced, July 26, that it was prepared to do everything necessary to defend the euro. But as one of the board members, the Belgian Peter Praet, recognizes, the ECB has only gained time. An integration freeze due to Franco-German disagreement can only prepare the next crisis, with the disastrous economic and human consequences that we are seeing -- the imbalances of the euro area, particularly concerning democracy, being far from being corrected.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jan 22nd, 2013 at 11:57:27 AM EST

Re: 50 years of French-German friendship (none / 0)

"Defend the Euro?" From what, exactly?

The choice of words is highly illuminating.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Tue Jan 22nd, 2013 at 12:29:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: 50 years of French-German friendship (4.00 / 3)

My translation, my fault. The French is "preserve" or "save". Reference to monetarising debt.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jan 22nd, 2013 at 12:40:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: 50 years of French-German friendship (4.00 / 4)

The actual words were:

But there is another message I want to tell you.
Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough.
There are some short-term challenges, to say the least. The short-term challenges in our view relate mostly to the financial fragmentation that has taken place in the euro area. Investors retreated within their national boundaries. The interbank market is not functioning. It is only functioning very little within each country by the way, but it is certainly not functioning across countries.

(Speech by Mario Draghi at the Global Investment Conference in London, 26 July 2012)

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jan 22nd, 2013 at 12:41:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

50 years of French-German friendship | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)