Or perhaps there is. There’s the European Commission, guardian of the treaties and of the “economic government” of the EU, as its President, Jose Manuel Barroso, recently repeated. But when it comes to the eurozone, it’s the Eurogroup – the Ministers of Economy, i.e. national governments – that has taken over. Again, therefore, Paris and Berlin.

The recent appointment of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy as “Mr. Euro”, with the blessing of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, strengthens the role of member states in the economic governance of “Euroland”, with Germany and France in the lead.

The catch is that this set-up isn’t based on any agreement and that the decisions taken by “Merkozy” seem increasingly to be evading any debate, even within the eurozone itself. Indeed, no other country is able to influence the discussions or to act as counterweight to a steamroller increasingly unencumbered by courtesies when addressing one’s peers, as shown by the angry and hostile tone in which the proposed referendum in Greece was greeted by “Merkozy”.

Among the other “big” countries, Italy, the third-largest economy in the eurozone, finds itself in the hot seat because of the precariousness of its government and its public finances. Meanwhile Spain, in the middle of an election campaign, is not out of the rut yet. 

Hammered by the debt crisis, they are, like Portugal and Ireland, well distant from the “triple A” of the rating agencies that seems to confer supernatural powers on countries that still have it. Which, incidentally, explains why the French president is obsessed with keeping his country in the most prized circle of the moment. In the eurozone, the other members of this triple-A club – Austria, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – either pack a light punch or are aligned with the Franco-German duo.

While Merkel and Sarkozy may be able to avoid the most threatening whirlpools, however, they seem to have no clear idea of where they want to steer the good ship Euro – and they have no mandate for it either. This lack of clarity and legitimacy weighs heavily over the uncharted course of the crisis and gives the impression that they’re navigating by sight. Steering through the storm, we’re not willing to hand the helm over unless those who take it can guide the ship and crew safely to harbour.

Translated from the French by Anton Baer

This is a relatively low evaluation, but at the same time Belgium “will have to act as a guarantor for 50 to 60 billion of potential losses caused by Dexia’s toxic assets,” which have now been placed in a bad bank. The Belgian guarantee will cover 60.5% of these investments, while France will cover 36.5% and Luxembourg 3%. “Economists have warned against a downgrading of Belgian bonds which would result in greater sovereign debt,” remarks De Morgen, which argues that “Belgian taxpayers may have to pay a high price for the bailout of Dexia.” On 8 October, Moody’s rating agency warned of a negative outlook for Belgian debt.

The controversy, notes the paper, "serves the president's majority (party) in other ways, as it tends to relegate a number of hot-button issues (rising costs, the law concerning the burqa, pension reform), to more modest columns on the front page, relatively free from the scrutiny of analysts.

“All things considered, it is not likely that current policy will be very costly to the conservative majority in power in France as the 2012 presidential elections approach. We can only hope that the Sarkozy administration's beautiful world will soon take interest in real subjects, like the resolution of the economic crisis and the importance of the European Union on the international scene.”

But maybe these less than flattering epithets merely derive from the fact that Van Rompuy is from a “small” member country, of scant interest to other members’ media and governments, focused as they are on the “majors”: UK, France, Germany…. The Luxembourgian Jean-Claude Juncker and Dutch Jan Peter Balkenende, likewise deemed wanting in charisma, also hail from “small” countries. As though the geographic size of a state rubbed off on its highest representative. And the press lost no time in making sardonic remarks about the alleged penury of panache in one “second-tier” personage or another – though they, too, ranked among the frontrunners for the post.

And whilst the Belgians see in Van Rompuy the man who managed to maintain a semblance of national unity, Balkenende and Juncker have kept themselves in power for a long time and still enjoy enviable popularity ratings, even as those of their “big” partners wane. The secret to their success? The art of compromise and consensus. This is precisely the modus operandi that the Union has always opted for in dealing with national vetoes – and that got it where it is today. J.S.