For most of the last half century the Franco-German alliance was regarded as the strongest redoubt of European unity. Now that alliance has a few problems it seems incapable to solve.
The Euro-nightmare began with France's referendum on the proposed European Union "Constitution". From the start the "no" vote seemed to dominate no matter what President Jacques Chirac tried as a persuasive tactic. This was not the first time France's voters diverged with its government's view of the bureaucrats in Brussels. The same thing happened in 1992 when the Maastricht Treaty was put to referendum. Then it was somewhat easier: President Miterand sought a "do-over- vote and informed French voters they would keep voting on the same document until they approved it. At the second referendum France gave its approval to the Treaty. This time the prospect of a re-vote is ambiguous, and there is no guarantee the second time will be the charm given the strong showing of the anti-Constitution vote margin.
A few days before France voted against the Constitution, Germany ratified it without referendum, but support there is much less than solid. If the measure were put to German voters, it likely would go down by a margin similar to the "no" votes in the Netherlands and France.
Another indication of Euroskepticism from the EU's former poster child came in the form of confusion on what was or was not recorded in the minutes of a BundesBank meeting last week. Apparently a discussion was held to the effect that Germany's economic problems are attributable to the euro and the Bank's severed ability to adjust the currency to impact interest and inflation rates. The BundesBank later said its commitment to the euro remains strong and such a discussion did not occur at its governors' meeting.
If it did occur, such a discussion would be nothing more than a statement of the obvious as reflected by the perpetual problems and breaches of the "stability pact" devised to ensure a stable euro. One need not be an economics guru to identify the endless difficulties to draw together states at varying stages of development and prosperity as those the euro-zone comprises. This is in fact the argument the Euroskeptics asserted a decade ago and the "stability pact" proponents disregarded as pure uninformed rubbish. Perhaps that is why the BundesBank is so unwilling to acknowledge its most recent assessment of reality.
Go To Page: 1 2
