On Friday, Merkel spelt out her vision of the future of the eurozone. In a speech to the German parliament she called for "a fiscal union with strict rules". Ah the rules, where would Ireland be without the rules?
So will Merkel, Sarkozy and Draghi succeed in saving the euro? It might not be a good idea to bet on it. Talk of treaty change and stronger supervision of spendthrift PIIGS is all well and good but the necessary treaty changes could take years to agree. Meanwhile, the pressure on the euro is continuing to mount.
Germany's continued refusal to countenance the issue of eurobonds or unlimited bond purchases by the ECB means that the future for the eurozone as it is currently configured is most likely an extremely bleak one. This point was rammed home for us in Ireland when Sarkozy used his speech to call once again for an end to "unfair" tax competition, ie we should give up our 12.5 per cent company tax rate.
It is now clear that Ireland abandoning our low corporation tax rate will be the price we will be forced to pay if we wish to stay in the eurozone. But should we? Far more likely is that several of the weaker members including Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain will either leave or be ejected from the eurozone, something that could happen as soon as the Christmas/New Year break, and that the eurozone, if it survives at all, will shrink to a hard Germanic core.
Note EU-Digest: Ireland and some of the other members of the EMU, who wanted only to benefit from the membership in the EU club without any or even no obligations, will have to understand that membership in the EU does not mean a "free lunch".
For more: France and Germany want us out of the party - Europe, World News - Independent.ie
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