hereward
06-15-2010, 07:36 PM
The French president has surrendered to the German Chancellor's demands on EU economic governance and her idea of "red cards" for member states that break spending rules set in Brussels.Mr Sarkozy had been determined to create an "economic government" of the 16 eurozone countries with a powerful secretariat to coordinate national budgets, tax and spending.
But Chancellor Merkel refused to accept his plan, insisting that it extend to all 27 states with the euro continuing to be run by the European Central Bank.
She won out after a tense meeting saying it was a red line issue for Germany.
"The members of the EU have to look at themselves as a kind of economic government. We must not create the members of the first and second class," she said.
The German victory is also bad news for David Cameron who had been hoping for French support in keeping Britain out of such measures. They include an EU demand to vet the British budget before it is presented to the House of Commons or the public.
President Sarkozy was then bludgeoned into accepting a German ultimatum that euro zone states that persistently breach budget deficit limits should have their voting rights suspended on economic issues, even if that requires changing the EU treaty. Previously, the issue of treaty change has been taboo for Mr Sarkozy who fears a French referendum. "If a treaty change is needed we will propose it," he conceded in Berlin.
Attempting to paint a gloss of unity over the talks, the French president claimed that "more than ever, Germany and France are determined to talk with one voice".
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a French Eurosceptic MP, blasted Mr Sarkozy's climbdown as "a capitulation while in pitched battle".
"Germany has imposed its European choices on a submissive France, which has definitively given up on its own (choices)," he said. "Faced with a suicidal and unilateral Germany, France has once again been totally absent, forgetting that in a couple, it takes two to tango".
Most of the French press regarded the Berlin meeting on Monday evening as a sign that the Franco-German "couple" – the EU's driving force – has entered a destructive power struggle and that Mrs Merkel has come out on top, for now.
"Angela Merkel über alles" trumpeted Le Figaro, the pro-Sarkozy newspaper, adding that "there is little doubt that the Chancellor is attempting to impose her leadership on the entire EU, or at least on the eurozone".
The chemistry between the two leaders has never been good. The sober German leader is said to find Mr Sarkozy too tactile and unpredictable and is rumoured to privately call him "little Napoleon". He on the other hand has railed against the German leader's sluggish response to the Greek debt and its spill over into the eurozone.
The French president has complained that Germany's hesitant approach cost the EU hundreds of billions. The rift came dramatically to light last week, when a working dinner in Berlin between the two was cancelled due to "diary" problems just as Mr Sarkozy's motorcade was ready to whisk him to the airport.
The French surrender came days after Mrs Merkel announced that Germany will embark on a £66.5billion austerity. The France initially openly criticised the move saying it risks cutting consumption and killing off European economic recovery. But in a further sign that Germany is calling the shots, the French government then announced its own £83billion austerity drive.
Mrs Merkel, who is facing domestic strife as her coalition teeters on the verge of collapse, is under intense domestic pressure to tread on Mr Sarkozy. She was fiercely criticised at home for allowing France to strong-arm her into signing up to a 750 billion bail-out fund for vulnerable euro states that now faces a legal challenge in Germany's constitutional court.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/7830474/Franco-German-relations-hit-new-low-over-EU-recovery.html
I cannot describe the joy I will feel when this entire miserable episode of Western History Dies. There will be damage, but damage is already done, DIE
But Chancellor Merkel refused to accept his plan, insisting that it extend to all 27 states with the euro continuing to be run by the European Central Bank.
She won out after a tense meeting saying it was a red line issue for Germany.
"The members of the EU have to look at themselves as a kind of economic government. We must not create the members of the first and second class," she said.
The German victory is also bad news for David Cameron who had been hoping for French support in keeping Britain out of such measures. They include an EU demand to vet the British budget before it is presented to the House of Commons or the public.
President Sarkozy was then bludgeoned into accepting a German ultimatum that euro zone states that persistently breach budget deficit limits should have their voting rights suspended on economic issues, even if that requires changing the EU treaty. Previously, the issue of treaty change has been taboo for Mr Sarkozy who fears a French referendum. "If a treaty change is needed we will propose it," he conceded in Berlin.
Attempting to paint a gloss of unity over the talks, the French president claimed that "more than ever, Germany and France are determined to talk with one voice".
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a French Eurosceptic MP, blasted Mr Sarkozy's climbdown as "a capitulation while in pitched battle".
"Germany has imposed its European choices on a submissive France, which has definitively given up on its own (choices)," he said. "Faced with a suicidal and unilateral Germany, France has once again been totally absent, forgetting that in a couple, it takes two to tango".
Most of the French press regarded the Berlin meeting on Monday evening as a sign that the Franco-German "couple" – the EU's driving force – has entered a destructive power struggle and that Mrs Merkel has come out on top, for now.
"Angela Merkel über alles" trumpeted Le Figaro, the pro-Sarkozy newspaper, adding that "there is little doubt that the Chancellor is attempting to impose her leadership on the entire EU, or at least on the eurozone".
The chemistry between the two leaders has never been good. The sober German leader is said to find Mr Sarkozy too tactile and unpredictable and is rumoured to privately call him "little Napoleon". He on the other hand has railed against the German leader's sluggish response to the Greek debt and its spill over into the eurozone.
The French president has complained that Germany's hesitant approach cost the EU hundreds of billions. The rift came dramatically to light last week, when a working dinner in Berlin between the two was cancelled due to "diary" problems just as Mr Sarkozy's motorcade was ready to whisk him to the airport.
The French surrender came days after Mrs Merkel announced that Germany will embark on a £66.5billion austerity. The France initially openly criticised the move saying it risks cutting consumption and killing off European economic recovery. But in a further sign that Germany is calling the shots, the French government then announced its own £83billion austerity drive.
Mrs Merkel, who is facing domestic strife as her coalition teeters on the verge of collapse, is under intense domestic pressure to tread on Mr Sarkozy. She was fiercely criticised at home for allowing France to strong-arm her into signing up to a 750 billion bail-out fund for vulnerable euro states that now faces a legal challenge in Germany's constitutional court.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/7830474/Franco-German-relations-hit-new-low-over-EU-recovery.html
I cannot describe the joy I will feel when this entire miserable episode of Western History Dies. There will be damage, but damage is already done, DIE