... short-circuiting the Dublin II Treaty, the EU remained silent for too long until Germany unilaterally decided to issue an “invitation” and really kick off the crisis. While indeed most of these migrants would (
illegally
) continue their paths on to Germany and Sweden, Italy and Greece had to deal with the impact of their arrival on their shores. As Germany took in more and more migrants, calls for Eastern European member states to take in their “fair” shares became louder from the very
same German officials
claiming this ...
... sent Germany into a rage. Merkel and Schäuble abandoned covenants and directed the EU’s political and economic might against the Greek prime minister, forcing him to resume negotiations with what he viewed as a license for resistance. But Germany made short shrift of Greece, just to show all the others that unwarranted improvisations are punishable.
It went too far this time, frightening not only, and not so much, Greece, as all its other partners, primarily France and Italy. Francois Hollande, who used to do as Merkel ...
... should we call this process “weird”? First because of the text that is to be signed by the European parliaments. This piece of paper is not the end of the story between Greece and its creditors. On the contrary, it is a new start for both Greece and Germany as well as Europe more generally. The second reason is due to the process of negotiations itself. However, since the E.U. is a “family”, the use of threats and blackmail was too obvious. Nonetheless, these main questions should not ...
... national parliaments.
More immediately, the issue of bridge financing to cover Greece’s upcoming payment of seven billion Euros to the ECB and IMF on the 20th of July further provides time for the deal to crash before finalization.
Implications
Germany is pursuing a policy that, supported by fellow hardline states like Finland or the Netherlands, exacts the highest price from Greece in terms of concessions. But Greece agreed to the terms, providing Berlin with plausible deniability as a driver of the crisis. The Greek government is now in a worse position: it must successfully implement the harshest austerity measures yet ...
... Combining those problems with the Greek debt (180% of GDP) the Greek issue is not only a special circumstance but also, a calamitous fiscal cocktail.
The German View
AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
Protesters hold placards during a rally to show
solidarity with Greece, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015
Germany is without a doubt the most powerful state in the E.U. and within the eurozone. A few weeks ago George Friedman published an article “The Grexit Issue and the Problem of Free Trade” where he supports the idea that the Greek problem ...
