So, I’m sitting here watching Sky News Live, and they’ve only just switched to the Euro Summit (or better said Franco-German summit to save the Euro) in Paris, as the news conference currently goes on. Breaking news it seems – “Merkozy” (coined this word from what I saw in today’s Telegraph) seems to have decided that the solution to the euro’s woes are “collective government for the Eurozone led by the EU President.”
So there you have it. The EU President comes into office in grandiose style post-Lisbon, with supposedly lots to do but in reality very little other than chair a few meetings a year, has a power struggle with the Commission but loses, so he needs something to do to legitimise his position. I seem to remember him shortly after taking office speaking about “economic government for Europe” and the furious reaction that his statement created.
Look at these links: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/eu-presidents-secret-bid-for-economic-power-1894549.html and http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/summit-economy.2l4 - couldn't get it more from the horse's mouth than through EU Business.
But if instead you're interested to know how an economic government might be run, just take a look at what the head of the Eurogroup said back in April - http://euobserver.com/19/32222
So, here we are, a few steps down the crisis line, and wow, suddenly the solution seems to be precisely what the EU President proposed, because he now has something to do by being put in charge of it. Sounds like an outcome that was pre-determined to me (I just don’t trust the way some of these Eurocrats think, and yes, Presidents and Chancellors of sovereign countries are just part of the Eurocrat machine) and it was just a case of finding the right “opportunity” to bring the idea in. What better time than when the crisis really is at the end of the line, and enough panic has been created, and the markets are jittery? Anything can be forced through in the name of economic stability, regardless of political consequence.
I’m upset with Sky News and the BBC – both are just reporting it as a moving ticker underneath their broadcasts – and carrying on reporting other events like it is not important. Sky claims its source as the Associated Press but I can’t even find an article yet on their front page either. It really is amazing how the UK press is completely under control – I trust economists’ blogs now more than news reports.
Political union is well and truly alive, and whereas economics were cast aside before in the name of political union, now it is the mechanism by which political union will be achieved. I suppose that all you had to do was to create the economic crisis by forcing the creation of a single currency for political purposes, ignoring all the economic advice, and then when that advice turned out to be right, suddenly you could focus your attention on the economic problems and advance your political agenda through them. What a con – and everyone is in on it.
Notes
1) Even David Cameron knew the economic government idea was coming: http://www.euractiv.com/en/priorities/Britain-wins-opt-out-on-economic-government-news-495370)
2) 10 minutes later....Some news articles just being posted to the net: http://www.newser.com/article/d9p59i2g0/merkel-sarkozy-propose-eurozone-economic-government-amid-debt-crisis.html
3) Anyone for a secret debate? http://euobserver.com/19/32222 It's precisely because of this way of thinking, which pervades the EU to its inner core, that I cannot support the European project.
