Merkel: 'Germany could abandon euro'

[Loki]

Angela Merkel warned that Germany could abandon the euro

German chancellor said to have made comments during an EU summit dinner in Brussels at the end of October

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has warned for the first time that her country could abandon the euro if she fails in her contested campaign to establish a new regime for the single currency, the Guardian has learned.

At an EU summit in Brussels at the end of October that was dominated by the euro crisis and wrangling over whether to bail out Ireland, Merkel became embroiled in a row with the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, according to participants at the event's Thursday dinner.

Merkel's central aim, which she achieved, was to win agreement on re-opening the Lisbon treaty so a permanent system of bailout funding and investor losses could be established to deal with debt crises that have laid Greece and Ireland low and are threatening Portugal and Spain. The Germans also called for bailed-out countries to lose voting rights in EU councils.

At the Brussels dinner on 28 October attended by 27 EU heads of government or state, the presidents of the European commission and council, and the head of the European Central Bank, witnesses said Papandreou accused Merkel of tabling proposals that were "undemocratic".

"If this is the sort of club the euro is becoming, perhaps Germany should leave," Merkel replied, according to non-German government figures at the dinner. It was the first time in the 10 months since the euro was plunged into a fight for its survival that Germany, the EU's economic powerhouse and the lynchpin of the euro's viability, had suggested that quitting the currency is an option, however unlikely.

[Radola]

If Germany leaves the Eurozone, than Euro is doomed.

[Vasconcelos]

Yes, but Germany won't, not for now anyways, I have a feeling the worst has passed already.

[Äike]

Germany has no other option, if no one in the EU gives a damn about the
Maastricht Treaty, except the Nordic area(Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Sweden) and Luxembourg. These were the only countries in the EU which fulfilled the Maastricht criteria. Merkel is pursuing a change in the EU, that following the rules of the Maastricht Treaty would be obligatory. Thus, Germany wouldn't have to bail out countries like Greece.

[Wyn]

A lot of people are quite convinced that Germany leaving the Eurozone will cause the entire house of cards to fall.

Hurry up Deutschland.

[Karl der Große]

If Germany leaves the Eurozone, than Euro is doomed.

The main problem is a lack of political integration to match the monetary integration. You cannot be in the Euro zone and then overplay national interests. This is especially true when you consider that only parts of the zone is in debt. The zone as a whole is not. Both the Commission and the Parliament appreciate all this. The Council of Ministers do not.

The consequences of the banking crisis is an important test for the Euro. It is not over yet. There are plenty of nay sayers out there who would like it to be, though.