MADRID | Germany will not move unless it firmly secures the fiscal compact goal. The growth strategy, the financial transactions tax and even banking union will only thrive so long discipline in public accounts is agreed. You can sulk at the stubborn obstinacy shown by Ms Merkel on this issue but trying to ignore it would not help Europe to overcome current problems. Brussels is proposing an enhanced budgetary control that…
By Luis Martí, in Madrid | In an understandable effort to correct serious original defects, the European Union has decided to adopt the fiscal compact promised in the European Council declaration of last November 9. This now is presented to us as none other than the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, open for member countries to sign after the January 30 summit. For the German Chancellor this…
Ever more austerity? Only Ireland has managed to escape, and barely, from the budget-cut trap at a considerable cost. No wonder the Commission hesitates to plunge Spain into a similar ordeal.
MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | Despite Italy’s PM Matteo Renzi is the only one fighting the hard EU economic line, Italian public debt reaches 135% of GDP. The country is required by the fiscal compact to return to 60% in 20 years, which would involve perpetual austerity for an entire generation at least. However, the problem does not only affect Italy but all the European Southern countries.
MADRID | Germany is taking advantage of other euro zone partner’s feebleness to impose its credo. It aims to firmly anchor the fiscal compact initiative it has so forcefully battled for.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis| Given the concern within the eurozone that the next crisis is just around the corner and that not enough has been done to prevent it, there is a new urgency to learn from our recent past. The precariousness of the Italian situation, and other threats to the single currency, are the best motivation possible to assess what went right or wrong in previous year.
Julius Baer Research | We share the view of Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, that his ultra-accommodative monetary policy stance alone cannot push the eurozone economy out of its current weakness but needs to be complemented with fiscal impulses.
April 6, 2015 | Guest post by Jean Tirole | Embroiled with the Greek crisis, European policymakers will soon have to step back and reflect on the broader question of the future of the Eurozone. Before calling for an exit or, on the contrary, for further integration, it is worth pondering over the consequences of each option.
BERLIN | By Alberto Lozano | Considering current low interest rates, ageing infrastructure in Germany, the slowdown of the economy and the threat of a new recession in the Eurozone, does it make sense that the German government is prioritizing a balanced budget for 2015?
BRUSSELS | By Alexandre Mato | “I’m French, I’m deeply French, I will remain French”, the former finance Minister said before EU legislators, eliciting uproarious laughs from those present, a remark which was followed by a declaration of independence “but here I will stand as a European Commissioner”. There is much at stake, and Pierre Moscovici was attempting to reassure Europe that his was a brief to ensure growth in an economy that can scarcely afford the spending required to do so.