More dilly-dallying forecast - until Germany begins to feel the heat
Arthur Beesley , Irish Times, 13.12.2011
Quotes
Back to the grind in Brussels, recrimination and finger-wagging in Westminster. As diplomats pick up the pieces in the wake of an underwhelming summit deal to settle the debt debacle, the big question remains as to whether EU leaders have it within them to shake off the turmoil. [...]
Despite finding some positive signals in the latest communique from EU leaders, analysts see plenty of reason to fret.
Janis Emmanouilidis of the European Policy Centre think-tank cites tension on three fronts. “First, recent polls indicate that a vast majority of citizens in both stronger and weaker EU countries have lost confidence in the ‘European project’ – and some elites seem to share this judgment,” he writes in a note on the summit.
“Second, the increasing distrust between EU capitals, between different groupings (‘ins’ vs ‘outs’; ‘big’ vs ‘small’; ‘lenders’ vs ‘creditors’ etc), and between Brussels institutions and (some) national capitals. Third, the inability to strike the right balance between austerity and growth, between the undisputed necessity to reduce deficits/debts and the need to effectively counter the increasing economic divergences between EU countries.” […]
For the entire article see here.
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