EU: France's Francois Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel clash over euro austerity pact

The Telegraph ^ | 4/27/2012 | Emma Rowley

[bruinbirdman]

The growing gulf between France and Germany was underlined as the eurozone's two biggest economies clashed over tackling the debt crisis.

It is "not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe", said Francois Hollande, the frontrunner to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as French president.

If elected, Mr Hollande says that he will not pass the fiscal austerity pact agreed by the leaders of 25 European nations, unless it contains measures to spur on growth.

His stance puts him on a collision course with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. She hit back at the French Socialist candidate's plans, warning the deal is "not open to new negotiations".

"The fiscal pact is negotiated, it was signed by 25 government leaders and has already been ratified by Portugal and Greece," she told a German newspaper.

"Parliaments across Europe are on the verge of passing it. Ireland is having a referendum at the end of May."

While her relationship with Mr Sarkozy has not been smooth, his replacement by Mr Hollande threatens to blow apart the partnership that has seen their two nations push through tough reforms across the region.

In an apparent rebuke to Mr Hollande, Italy's technocrat leader Mario Monti and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso made a joint statement in which they criticised debt-fuelled growth measures.

"We agreed that the revival of growth must come through a relentless focus on improving competitiveness and not through higher levels of debt," they said after a meeting.

However, Ms Merkel faced trouble at home as opposition politicians joined Mr Hollande in his bid to make the austerity pact more flexible. They complain that the "one-size-fits-all" rules do not suit Germany's individual states and municipalities.

The question of how to address the eurozone's debt burden is toppling governments across Europe. The three-month-old Romanian

[bruinbirdman]

Austerity trap
20 April 2012 Trouw Amsterdam

[Tzimisce]

The Germans will pay for the rest of us and go to Hell.

[Olog-hai]

Hollande is the lightweight. If he gets in, France becomes more malleable rather than less. (In fact, that's the case no matter who wins the French presidential elections.)

[bruinbirdman]

"In fact, that's the case no matter who wins the French presidential elections."

It's all political rhetoric for now. The reality will not change after the election: EU is twisting slowly in the wind.

yitbos

[alexander_busek]

It is "not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe", said Francois Hollande, the frontrunner to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as French president.

Translation: "Shut up and pay, Boches!"

Regards,

[Savage Beast]

Did anyone really expect the marriage to work?

Once German patience runs out, the pots and pans are going to start flying.

"Nobody forgets where he buried the hatchet."
Frank McKinney Hubbard
(1896-1930)

(And the Germans buried a helluvalot more than a lousy hatchet!)

[Olog-hai]

It’ll only “twist” for as long as the elites don’t have what they want. Once they get the kind of control they desire, just watch: suddenly no more crisis.