For some time, Merkel has believed that the founding fathers of the euro, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former French President François Mitterrand, made a mistake when they neglected to give the currency a political structure. For Merkel, this is one of the reasons for the current crisis. She also believes that it’s up to her generation to correct the mistake. She wants the EU member states to give up more sovereignty so that policymakers in Brussels can quickly and effectively decide on a common fiscal and economic policy. To achieve this, Merkel even talked about amending the European treaties. …The highlighted bit is the main requirement of those bailout loans. Can’t have a proper EU empire without that, can ya? And I have to agree with Vladimir Bukovsky when he said this about the euro currency:
Particularly the introduction of the euro was a crazy idea. Currency is not supposed to be political.
The money quotes.
“They all go through the routine motions of unwinding their national programs, as if there were no euro crisis bellowing at their doors. There is a huge difference between the public rhetoric and the behavior during negotiations, especially with the German chancellor. In public, she stresses common interests, but none of it remains once she is behind closed doors. She seems pedantic and mercantile. This doesn’t mean that the Germans should always be the ones footing the bill. But a policy of trying to avoid payment at all costs isn’t enough.”
“Instead, she (Merkel) both accepts and is responsible for the fact that Europe currently has no vision. The December summit was historic, in the sense that it stifled Barroso’s and Van Rompuy’s attempt to build a political union. Both men returned home without having achieved their goals.”
“Merkel reports on the summit in Brussels. She is under the impression, she says, that Hollande is trying to obstruct everything she proposes between now and the German parliamentary election. Hollande currently has more allies than she does, she says, which is why cooperation isn’t quite working yet. But she’s doing her best to gather more allies for Germany, she adds.”
“It sounds a little like the days when there were still wars in Europe.”