“What is at stake is not only the economic integration, it is also the overall economic confidence in the euro area, and indeed, our commitment to the European project,” said European Commission president Jose Barroso, in a speech Tuesday. “This is why we need to be bold and define the way forward.” Barroso will not get what he wants. The divisions among the leading nations in Europe are too deep.
Some countries that can afford to make loans want to. Germany, which can make the largest ones, will not. That leaves the issue of how funds at hand — almost a trillion dollars in bailout funds and another $456 billion held by the International Monetary Fund– will be loaned. They will be, but Germany will make sure the terms are onerous. Countries that get money will be monitored, and their budget management will hardly be their own.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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