Euro crisis: “even though we know how difficult a treaty change will be”

Whilst the Eurogroup continues working “on a proposal”, there are some other snippets to note. The IMF has announced it is releasing almost €1.5billion to Ireland as part of the EU-IMF financial aid package for the country.  Apparently the Irish government has maintained “resolute implementation” of the economic restructuring programme, and is “ahead of schedule in some areas”. Not so Greece.  The Irish Times’ Arthur Beesley informs us that the EU-IMF inspectors have “unexpectedly left Greece yesterday after the emergence of divisions …

Read more…

Jean-Claude Juncker: “The Eurogroup is working on a proposal, which I hope all eurozone member states will be happy with”

A quick update from Brussels on the crisis in the euro-zone where Finland’s demand for collateral in return for financial aid to Greece is, as the New York Times reported, threatening the “fragile consensus”.  [Offer them an island or two! – Ed]  I don’t think that would cover it… The BBC reports that European Central Bank (ECB) president, Jean-Claude Trichet, wants European governments to get back to work quickly. “The full and timely implementation of the July 21 agreement between heads …

Read more…

Euro crisis: “everything those leaders have done, after large amounts of dithering, has ended up making the situation worse.”

That’s the BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders quoted above, by the way.  Which brings me back to Thursday’s emergency summit called by European Council president, Herman Van Rompuy “Our agenda will be the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek programme,” said Mr Van Rompuy in a brief statement last night. [Friday 15th July] Perhaps…  But Frau Bundeskanzlerin, who reportedly wasn’t as keen on the summit being called, has been playing down expectations …

Read more…

Jean-Claude Trichet: “It is not a question of technique. It is a question of will and determination.”

At the Telegraph blog, Andrew Lilico takes his life in his hands to ask, “Is it time for the eurozone to turn into a Single European State?”  A key point he makes, I’d suggest OK – so what do we do, if we don’t want to break up the euro altogether? First, we have to accept (a) that this is fundamentally a political project, a precursor to a Single European State, and must be accepted as such by all its …

Read more…

Euro crisis: “the right to veto some national economic policy decisions”

Further signs of dissent in Greece at the proposed terms of a new improved bail-out, and the accompanying “humiliating erosion of sovereignty”. And so far, where Greece has been led, others have followed… But, for some, every cloud has a silver lining. “Would it go too far if we envisaged . . . giving euro area authorities a much deeper and authoritative, say in the formation of the country’s economic policies if these go harmfully astray?” asked [European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude …

Read more…