06 December 2011

Presseurop: Who will follow Merkel and Sarkozy?

At a 5 December meeting in Paris, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy agreed on a plan to save the euro from catastrophe, which they will be asking the EU's 27 Member States to approve at a summit on 8-9 December. The European press, however, thinks they're not out of the woods yet.

In Madrid, El País described the agreement as “lopsided,” generally “insufficient” and “questionable” in each of its aspects, because there is absolutely no mention of solidarity and the sharing of responsibility:

It is insufficient because, in spite of what they have said, Merkel and Sarkzoy did not outline a plan for fiscal union […], but merely emphasised fiscal discipline. In the event of a boycott by some countries, treaty reform would be limited to the eurozone but would cripple the EU by opening a Pandora’s box of interminable, and byzantine discussions over complex agreements that were 10 years in the making. But the worst deficiency is in the lack of detail about mechanisms that are urgently needed to overcome the crisis. There is only one reference to the early launch of the permanent European Stability Mechanism in 2012, a deafening silence on the indispensable role of the ECB, and a regrettable refusal on eurobonds. If the European summit [on 8-9 December] does not improve on this meager harvest, the joy of the markets will be short-lived.

“Berlin wins the day,” notes for its part La Stampa. Although pleased that Merkel and Sarkozy acknowledged the autonomy of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, the Turin daily is disappointed that the agreement will be a setback for eurobonds, controversial European state government bonds. Otherwise, “there was nothing new” in a discussion that papered over major issues:

... what is most striking is what they didn’t talk about. The duo avoided discussing the ECB, which Sarkozy wants to engage in more active intervention and Merkel wants to pursue its policy of stabilisation.

In Portugal, Jornal de Negócios notes:

Those who know Europe are aware that Merkozy has outlined an uncertain strategy to win the battle against the immediate collapse of the euro, but they have reopened old wounds in the sovereignty and democratic credibility of European countries and the EU, which date back to the outbreak of the crisis in 2010.

In Estonia Postimees regrets that once again, “the leaders of European states have weakened European institutions”:

All the initiatives to save the eurozone have been coordinated via the European Council, an institution that has never been an organ of democratic governance. The European parliament must be given a greater say. A return to the Europe of nations would imply a setback for democratic governance, which on a global level will be several times more catastrophic than 9/11 or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Scepticism about the Merkozy plan was not confined to the Eurozone. In Bucharest, Adevarul resignedly remarks that the new Europe “will not be perfect and will not be poetry”:

Beyond the niceties of French politics, the fate of Europe is increasingly tied to Germany. […] Everything is articulated around the Eurozone, and countries that are not included in this core will have to fight to stay in step. Romania, Poland and the Baltic States will do this because it is in their interest. There is no other choice.

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