It’s been yet another day of uncertainty in the eurozone, with market fears over euro debt sending shares plunging across the globe and with EU leaders all over the place.Amid the confusion, France has stepped up again with calls to strengthen the role of the Eurogroup, the forum where eurozone finance ministers get together to make policy decisions.
The groundbreaking proposal?
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy should take the lead and also be the ‘President for the Eurozone’. They now have Germany onside, and both will push the proposal over the next few months.
What’s interesting is that this would dramatically sideline, and perhaps eventually exclude, the role of the Eurogroup Chairman, currently held by the Luxembourg PM and uber-federalist Jean-Claude Juncker. Reuters claims that member states’ leaders may be inclined to support the proposal due to the allegedly “lacklustre performance” of Juncker, who’s been around the euro-block for some time now. We’re not surprised that he’s feeling jaded.
We see what they're trying to do - the Eurogroup is in desperate need of some coherence. But giving Van Rompuy another title? Will that really make anyone happier?
Yes, Juncker's performance has done nothing to help the eurozone, but van Rompuy has done nothing. Perhaps if everyone could just hang on - and this is what the europrats have been hoping in vain the markets will do - Sarkozy himself will be looking for employment next April.
ReplyDeleteHandelsblatt's columnist Thomas Hanke says"Van Rompuy’s competences will probably be extended"... I very much doubt it that that is technically, medically or intellectually possible, and we should stop using 'competency' when what is really meant is (unelected and illegitimate)POWER.
ReplyDelete>market fears over euro debt sending shares plunging across the globe
ReplyDeleteYeaah, and the US recession fears and their political 'deal' excluding any potential fiscal stimulus had nothing to do with it?
You have no clue what you are writing about, boys.
Anonymous, who's saying that the situation in the US has nothing to do with it?
ReplyDelete