-
Taking a Close Look at the Grand Coalition Talks: not so Grand on Europe?
Berlin is heading towards a grand coalition between Chancellor Merkel’s CDU, her Bavarian sister party, the CSU, and the Social Democrats (SPD). After an election campaign in which European issues were strangely absent, surely the delegations that sat down a month after the elections had to get their teeth into Europe. By putting Europe on…
-
Pushing on a String: LTRO, Endogenous Money and the Eurozone Crisis
(slightly wonkish, as Paul Krugman would put it) At a press conference about a month ago, the President of the ECB, Mr Mario Draghi, raised the possibility of a new round of LTRO (Long Term Refinancing Operation), which, for those less familiar with the topic, consist of large-scale, long-term, low-interest loans to commercial banks across…
-
Parallel Currencies are no Alternative for the Euro
Many are upset about the ‘TINA-type solutions’ for the euro crisis. ‘There-is-no-alternative’ (TINA) seems to have been an irrevocable characteristic of the euro right from the start. A sense of ‘having been forced onto the people’ was kindled by the fact that in most countries the single currency was adopted without referenda. Subsequently, many of…
-
The Eurozone Crisis: Finance 2 – Society 0
An interesting and crucial feature of the eurozone crisis, which hardly ever gets mentioned, is the extent to which it corresponds to a massive, lengthy, disguised and undemocratic process of socialisation of debt relations. What started out as a massive build-up of debt/credit relations between private debtors and private creditors has been gradually converted into…
-
Do the German elections matter?
As journalists from across Europe flock to Germany to report on the federal elections this coming Sunday, the question that is asked by many is “Does their outcome matter for Europe?” There is no simple answer to this. Indeed the visions of the major parties on the future of the eurozone and the union as…
-
Much Ado about Nothing
As many readers will have heard or read through other media, the last few weeks have seen a political crisis emerge, develop and finally subside in Portugal. The plot has been a convoluted one, with much toing-and-froing and backtracking, as well as attempts to change the game altogether – but all it came down to…
-
German Government Embraces Multi-Speed Europe
It almost slipped off my radar in the summer break, which Berlin dived into at the end of June: the German government seems to change course on its stance towards a multi-speed Europe or, as analysts like to put it, differentiated integration. If this is really the case then here is some revolutionary news that…
-
Barroso Stretches the Limits of Subsidiarity
By Adriaan Schout and Judith Hoevenaars (Instituut Clingendael) The eurocrisis has reignited debates on subsidiarity. On June 21st, the Dutch government presented the (disappointing) results of a subsidiarity review, listing 54 EU measures or policy fields which could better be regulated at the national level. The UK is working on a more extensive proposal to…