Briefings
Staring into the eurozone abyss
The domino effect
-
European Council: Yes, the euro is mortal
28 June 201213939PresseuropLe Monde, Handelsblatt, Público & 2 others -
European Council: Europe’s Vietnam
28 June 2012151120 La Repubblica Rome -
Eurozone: Germany — make the bad choice, not the disastrous one
26 June 2012195202 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Debt crisis: EU is the least worst option for Cyprus
26 June 201232PresseuropO Phileleftheros, Politis -
Eurozone crisis: Saving Private Euro goes Rome
22 June 20124610PresseuropL'Espresso, Le Figaro, La Stampa, El País -
G20: Monti denies EFSF rescue is “bailout”
20 June 20125916PresseuropThe Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Corriere della Sera -
Greece: Back to dark ages if we go on like this
19 June 201245915 The Daily Telegraph London -
Greece: The worst has been staved off – for now
18 June 2012716PresseuropJornal de Negócios, Frankfurter Rundschau, La Vanguardia & 2 others -
Italy: In Rome, bailout is no longer taboo
15 June 2012262164 Linkiesta Milan -
Cyprus: A bailout, quick!
13 June 2012838 Cyprus Mail Nicosia -
Debt Crisis: Italian press gets behind Monti amid bailout rumours
13 June 201251125PresseuropLa Stampa, Il Sole-24 Ore -
Banking crisis: Everyone has been lying
12 June 201241928 Jornal de Negócios Lisbon -
Spain: Rajoy wins first hand in euro-poker
11 June 201210668 El País Madrid -
Spain: Our time is nearly up
6 June 2012162166 La Vanguardia Barcelona -
Eurozone crisis: Not even Germany is immune
5 June 201212012PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel -
EU economic scoresheet: As crisis worsens, Brussels still in denial
31 May 201232986 The Guardian London -
Banking crisis: Can Spain make a solo comeback?
29 May 201221243 El País Madrid -
EU summit: Hour of truth has come for Europe
23 May 201210377 El País Madrid -
Editorial: No way out?
18 May 2012482Presseurop -
Spain: Budgetary discipline will bear fruit
18 May 20125718 El Mundo Madrid -
Greek crisis: The euro exit is a bluff
15 May 201229684 La Stampa Turin -
Eurozone: Banks could sink the euro
14 May 201235644 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam -
Eurozone: Greek threat raises its head once more
11 May 2012270233 El País Madrid -
Economy: IMF is a troublesome ally
18 April 2012199122 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam -
euro zone: The trillion-euro illusion
2 April 20122958 De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
ECONOMIC CRISIS: Western Europeans save more
2 April 2012401PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Eurozone crisis: Time for politics after the storm
14 March 201210557 La Stampa Turin -
Greece: Shipwreck has been avoided
9 March 201294146 To Ethnos Athens -
Fiction: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the eurozone crisis
2 March 201234410 Cicero Berlin -
Eurozone crisis: The great European fire sale
21 February 201250857 The Independent London
The European Council cannot afford the hunt for a new compromise in the short term, warns the European press. European leaders must take seriously the risk that the single currency will collapse – and with it, the EU. 
On the eve of an umpteenth “last chance summit,” leaders of the EU’s 27 member states are continuing to stick to their guns, vainly hoping that the crisis will simply resolve itself. In their inability to come to terms with an increasingly negative situation, they are a lot like the American generals who continued to bombard Vietnam when they knew the war was already lost. 
The finale of the euro has begun, warns the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Angela Merkel will have to decide before the EU summit whether and how Germany can save the common currency. 
Rumours have been rife for weeks, but it’s the British Daily Telegraph, at the close of the G20 summit in Mexico, that has smashed the taboo, revealing that Spain and Italy are on the verge of bailout. But is Mario Monti’s plan to use EFSF money to buy up debt really a bailout? 
The devastating effects of austerity on the Greek population are a warning that history is not an never-ending ascent to progress and enlightenment. Civilisations can also collapse, warns Boris Johnson. 
Following the vote that gave victory to the “pro-memorandum” party, the European press breathes a sigh of relief: the concept of a Greece exit from the eurozone seems to have been ruled out for the moment. But the crisis in the single currency is far from having run its course. 
Despite reassuring announcements from the government, Italy’s Treasury is already peering closely at the terms of an assistance plan. Its goal: to find a painless solution that will prevent the third-largest economy in the eurozone from getting the Greek treatment. 
It's been in the air for weeks — Nicosia is preparing to apply for €3bn to €4bn in emergency funding from the EU in order to recapitalise its struggling banks, highly exposed to Greek debt. But time is running out, writes the English-language Cyprus Mail. 
Banks and politicians are complicit in the banking disaster bank in Spain – and citizens will have to pay for the consequences. It’s a disgrace, angrily writes the director of Portugal’s Jornal de Negócios. 
After denying for weeks that the Spanish banking sector needed help, the Madrid government has gone to the EU with cap in hand. And to convince the Germans to go along, it played a clever bluff. 
Until this week, Madrid thought it would have to wait for the Greek elections before getting any help to solve its national bank crisis. But panic is now growing with no easy solution in sight. 
Despite clear evidence that its austerity policies are driving struggling members into ever deeper economic agony, the European Commission presented its annual economic report on May 30 seeking to defend a strategy that is bankrupt, argues the Guardian’s economics editor. 
Assurances from the head of government cannot amount to much: victim of a severe banking crisis, Madrid will soon be forced to seek help in the EU. Like Ireland, it will then be placed on a drip-feed – and under guardianship. 
Let Greece leave the euro? Save Spain’s banks? Continue to stand fast on austerity, or give growth a chance? Plenty of questions that the leaders of the eurozone, meeting at the extraordinary summit on May 23, will have to find answers to if they want to preserve Europeans’ faith in the common project. 
Faced with a further worsening of the financial crisis, Mariano Rajoy's government tries to give pledges to markets while demanding EU support. But when comparing his situation to those of Portugal and Greece, we realize that there is no alternative, says El Mundo. 
As speculation rages about a Greek exit from the eurozone, we must grasp that the country cannot survive without the single currency and that Europe cannot afford to let it leave. That's why everyone should put their cards openly on the table. 
Forget the debate about austerity versus growth, the future of the single currency is being played out in the banking sector. As a result of the crisis, governments and financial institutions have become so interdependent that they have weakened each other. 
The spectre of a Greek exit from the Eurozone has once again been raised by the political crisis in Athens: a scenario that is all the more dangerous for Spain, which is now more vulnerable, and one whose consequences would be geo-political as well as economic. 
The International Monetary Fund, which recently warned Europe of the possibility of another crisis, forms part of the troika charged with rescuing countries in financial difficulty. However, over the last year under the presidency of France’s Christine Lagarde, the organisation which is often presented as a saviour has adopted a less conciliatory tone. 
On 29 March, EU finance ministers claimed to have come up with the right numbers with which to shield the eurozone from a new crisis. But it is a sleight-of-hand accounting that could crumble at the first sign of trouble. 
The European economy appears to have survived the worst of the crisis and to be on the road to recovery. However, progress towards this goal is is hampered by political hesitations and politicians doubts about their performance in future elections. 
Having succeeded in convincing between 85% and 95% of its creditors to write down part of its debt, the Greek government has finally accomplished one of the tasks expected of it. But now it will have to convince the people that the sacrifices it has demanded will not be vain. 
What if the euro crisis were merely a devilish experiment set up by a gigantic computer disguised as Planet Earth? The Berlin cabaret artist Horst Evers runs though the euro crisis – but by the rules of Douglas Adams’ alternative universe. And he finds the human race isn’t quite up to their job. 
All over Europe, nations are looking for a quick way to raise cash. All of them seem to have the same idea - to sell off state assets. Austerity versus growth
-
France-Italy: Latin “growth axis” vs. German “discipline axis”
15 June 20125620PresseuropLe Monde, La Repubblica, La Stampa -
Debt Crisis: Berlin blind to lessons of history
11 June 201211536PresseuropDer Spiegel, Financial Times -
Ireland: Why this fiscal compact is necessary
30 May 2012541 The Irish Times Dublin -
Ireland: “No, but...” to the fiscal compact
30 May 20127363 The Irish Times Dublin -
Eurozone crisis: The end of all-powerful Germany
24 May 201226091 To Vima Athens -
EU summit: Growth — the new magic word
23 May 201224926 Trouw Amsterdam -
Editorial: Let the debate begin!
27 April 20121728Presseurop -
Debt crisis: End of the road for European austerity?
24 April 201256444 The Guardian London -
Economy: 2012 - the Hollande Revolution
24 April 201235310 El País Madrid -
Employment: The crisis, golden opportunity for employers
23 March 2012208853 Frankfurter Rundschau Frankfurt -
Fiscal Compact: Thatcher has won battle for Europe
12 March 201228525 Aftonbladet Stockholm -
European Council: There are alternatives to the fiscal compact
2 March 201215842 The Independent London -
European Council: Anti-austerity front grows in Europe
1 March 201229346 Le Monde Paris -
Eurozone crisis: Europe says goodbye to solidarity
24 February 201233186 Financial Times London -
Eurozone crisis: No-one wants a German budget commissar
30 January 201210161PresseuropPúblico, Le Monde, Ta Nea & 2 others
As Ireland votes in a referendum on the German inspired fiscal compact on May 31st, the Irish Times invites the electorate to focus on the treaty and not on extraneous issues. 
In the midst of an economic crisis still in constant flux, it would be pointless for the Irish to vote Yes on the May 31st referendum on the fiscal compact, which for the moment is but a collections of penalties for misbehaving signatories. Come back later, argues Fintan O’Toole. 
The advent of a new administration in Paris has shifted the balance of power in the European Union away from Berlin and German austerity — a development that has been welcomed in Athens as a source of renewed hope and a light at the end of the tunnel for the Greek population. 
In recent months, EU leaders from all spectrums have embraced the notion of "growth". But how can it be generated? Although a practical discussion on this issue has not yet really arisen, infrastructure projects could perhaps be part of a solution to the crisis. 
With France likely to vote in a socialist president critical of her fiscal pact, and a Dutch government collapsing on the issue of social reforms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s austerity model is taking a battering. 
He is dull, pragmatic, consensual. And yet, if elected president of France, the Socialist candidate may be able to change the course of politics in Europe, a Spanish columnist believes. 
Pressed hard by the recession and national debts, European governments are rewriting the labour law, whether watering down job protection or cutting wages. And employers are smiling. 
Intended to assure the euro will survive forever, the fiscal pact adopted in early March endorses the “authoritarian capitalism” promoted by the Iron Lady. The budget cuts it advocates, however, are being dictated not by democratically elected governments but by financial markets, writes a Swedish columnist. 
The new treaty signed by 25 member states in Brussels on March 2 is supposed to create a new era of fiscal responsibility and economic union, but it is half-baked and reinforces the EU’s undemocratic credentials, argues a British columnist. 
The European Union Council, which begins on Thursday, is scheduled to sign the new fiscal compact. But at the same time, a dozen countries, led by Italy, are contesting the austerity policies imposed by "Merkozy" and calling for an economic stimulus package. 
The solidarity that has always been at the heart of the European project is based upon hard-headed self interest. For the union to survive the current crisis, it needs to relearn this simple principle. 
The idea of pinning the second Greek bail-out on the acceptance by Athens of supervision by a European budget commissioner, a German proposal unveiled on the eve of the January 30 European Council meeting, is nothing less than a violation of state sovereignty, according to the European press. A new union
-
European Council: Monti and Rajoy sign away the sovereignty principle
2 July 201217942 La Vanguardia Barcelona -
European Council: A leap forward
29 June 2012133106 France Inter Paris -
European Council: A stress test for the Europeans
27 June 20126561 El País Madrid -
European Union: 10 countries for a United States of Europe
20 June 2012232633PresseuropDie Presse -
Debate: Where to, crisis-stricken Europe?
15 June 2012285PresseuropHandelsblatt -
Debt crisis: Political union: easier said than done
8 June 201211728PresseuropFinancial Times Deutschland, Financial Times Deutschland, Le Figaro -
Debt crisis: The price of the euro: German money, France’s independence
6 June 20127941PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
Eurozone crisis: Here comes the United States of Europe
5 June 201279891 The Guardian London -
Eurozone crisis: “Maastricht 2” to save Spain and Cyprus?
4 June 20129215PresseuropDiário económico -
Eurozone: Barroso for banking union
31 May 20124221PresseuropDer Standard -
Debate: Europe must choose
25 May 20129829PresseuropThe Economist -
EU summit: A way out of the crisis begins here
24 May 2012162120 France Inter Paris -
Debate: The European grand coalition
16 May 201216015 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Debt crisis: You can’t buy your way to growth
19 April 201227294 Dagens Nyheter Stockholm -
European Union: German minister calls for new EU constitution
15 March 2012978PresseuropThe Times -
Editorial: New order
3 February 20125921Presseurop
The agreement reached in Brussels on the initiative of Spain and Italy means one thing: three and a half centuries after its birth by the treaties of Westphalia, the nation-state can only survive by delegating sovereignty. 
Banking union, relaunched investment, deepening political and economic union; the summit of June 28 and 29 should reignite Europe, says columnist Bernard Guetta. Too bad the players managing the crisis are more like auditors rather than visionaries. 
By offering greater control over national budgets and banks, the heads of EU institutions are taking up the federalist challenge launched by Germany. But this solution risks provoking resistance from some member states – without weakening the attacks from the markets. 
Angela Merkel wants to move towards greater federalism and is suggesting a two-speed Europe. But that presents legal difficulties in Germany and is deepening the split with François Hollande. 
If Germany is to pay for the eurozone crisis, then fiscal and political union is the likely price. And plans for this are already being drawn up ahead of what could be a momentous EU summit on 28-29 June. 
In their discussion on common investment and eurobonds at an extraordinary summit on 23 May, the EU27 set aside the opposition between “virtuous” and “spendthrift” states and took a further step towards economic integration. 
Until now, ideological discussion has been off the menu in a Europe which lacked a genuine culture of debate. Now that we have a French President and a German Chancellor from opposing sides of the political divide, perhaps the EU can revive the interest of its citizens with public exchanges of views on important issues. 
European leaders are seeking growth as a way to attenuate the social consequences of austerity measures. But simply giving money to the countries of Southern Europe, which do not have the adequate economic foundations, is a pipe dream, warns a Swedish commentator. Editorial
Two years have passed since, May 9, 2010, when the 27 Eurozone leaders believed all that was needed to avert the danger of euro collapse was to create a €750 billion emergency fund.
But the crisis continued to spread, affecting major countries like Spain and Italy. The money earmarked for struggling countries has not prevented financial markets from destabilising the single currency. And austerity measures have only had the effect of weakening economies and deteriorating the living conditions of Europeans.
We must find something else. In 2012, it is growth and debt pooling that are central to the debate. But for that, the Europeans may have to enter into greater political union. A new Europe to negotiate its way out of the crisis? This is the challenge that this report aims to tackle.
