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- To Be, Or Not To
Be A Country - that is the question /Germany/ In a straitjacket
The German economy is virtually at a standstill. Falling industrial production and plummeting business confidence are prompting warnings that the country may be on the verge of recession. Germany's hardly unique; the slowing global economy has left no euro-zone country untouched. Eventually, the European Central Bank may feel that another interest rate cut is justified. But with headline inflation still at a high level, this is unlikely to happen soon. In the meantime, interest rates will continue to be too high for the region's slowest-growing economies. The economic logic of a single currency suggests that fiscal policy adjustment is the answer to this mismatch. When monetary policy is handled centrally, fast-growing economies should react by tightening their budgets and slow-growing ones by loosening a little. In the German case, for instance, that could mean bringing forward income tax measures that are scheduled for 2003. The problem is that a fiscal adjustment of this sort would break the budget limits already agreed with the European Commission under the stability and growth pact. Slowing growth means that Germany already looks likely to overshoot its target deficit of 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product. This may seem a second-order consideration when the country is facing the prospect of a serious downturn. But breaking the rules now would make future attempts to control members' fiscal policies all but meaningless, undermining the economic basis of the single currency. The truth is that had Germany undergone more fiscal consolidation when its economy was doing well, it would have more room for manoeuvre now; as things stand, though, a fiscal loosening is just not politically wise. Germanys government should concentrate instead on structural measures to improve the performance of the economy. Trimming public spending, for instance, could create space for tax cuts without breaching the overall fiscal limits. And the four consecutive monthly rises in unemployment make the need for more sensible labour market policy painfully clear. Measures to increase worker protection looked dubious even when the economy was doing well; now, they look seriously misguided. Attracting business investment must be the goal if Germany is to improve its sluggish long-term growth potential. Reforms such as these are hard to sell politically, as their short-term economic effects are muted. But entry into the single currency implies adherence to a set of rules that cannot be arbitrarily overturned, however tempting that might be. Germany's government should concentrate on the task of laying the foundations for a strong recovery - whenever that may come. Jospin
rejects federal EU plan Pehr G
Gyllenhammar hyllar Gerhard Schröders federala EU-förslag Persson
skeptisk mot federalisterna Förbundsrepubliken
Europa? Ett federalare Europa Vad ska det bli av EU? Den frågan ställer sig inte många svenskar - tyvärr. Tyskland skissar på kraftigt förändrat EU
Sveriges regering fick i uppdrag vid EU-toppmötet i Nice att dra igång en stor, bred diskussion om EU:s framtid. Efter en lång startsträcka lyckades den till slut samla sig till ett initiativ. Statsminister Göran Persson, Belgiens premiärminister Guy Verhofstadt och EU-kommissionens Romano Prodi höll en kort frågestund med eleverna på Europa-skolan i Bryssel, samt öppnade en sida på internet. I övrigt råder i denna framtidsdiskussion nästan total radiotystnad från EU:s ordförandeland och i synnerhet från statsministern själv. Han tycks inte gilla framtidsfrågorna. På nytt kommer utspelet från Tyskland. Den här gången från förbundskansler Gerhard Schröder som i måndags gjorde det som Göran Persson skulle ha kunnat gjort, nämligen skissera ett övergripande reformförslag till ett framtida EU. Lagom till nästa veckas möte med Europas socialdemokratiska ledare i Berlin släppte Schröder ett utkast till SPD-kongressen i Nürnberg i november. För att klara av de växande arbetsuppgifter som läggs på europeisk nivå, samtidigt som utvidgningen öppnar ett perspektiv där EU omfattar över 25 medlemsländer, så förespråkar Gerhard Schröder en radikal omorganisation med dagens tyska förbundsstat som modell. Målet är att EU:s nästa fördragsreform (2004) skall skapa en tydlig avgränsning av ansvarsfördelning på olika nivåer och en öppen, begriplig beslutsprocess. Allt reglerat i en europeisk författning. Utan att precisera några detaljer skisserar Schröder upp en modell som tidigare också presenterats av Tysklands president Johannes Rau och utrikesministern Joschka Fischer från de Gröna. EU-kommissionen skulle omvandlas till det verkställande organet, ett slags regering; EU:s Ministerråd skulle bli en första kammare, en länderkammare, liknande Tysklands Förbundsråd; EU-parlamentet skulle bli den folkvalda andra kammaren med fullt budgetansvar, motsvarande Tysklands Förbundsdag; Samtidigt med denna institutionella nyordning öppnar Schröder för en omfördelning av ansvar och arbetsuppgifter, bland annat i de finansiellt tunga EU-områdena som den gemensamma jordbrukspolitiken och regionalpolitiken. Schröders utspel mottages positivt inom Tyskland, även av den kristdemokratiska oppositionen (CDU/CSU). Men det skakar om flera av de utländska partiledare som Schröder tar emot i Berlin nästa vecka. De är utomordentligt svala i sina reaktioner. I Frankrike försöker den generade partivännen, premiärministern Lionel Jospin tona ner betydelsen. Jospin har ännu inte själv lyckats förverkliga det gamla löftet att offentligt presentera sin egen Europa-politik. Frågan verkar vara alltför känslig i de egna splittrade leden, i synnerhet inför nästa års presidentval. Likaså partivännen och premiärministern Tony Blair i Storbritannien, som förmodligen har val redan om en månad, ligger lågt. Även Österrikes konservativa förbundskansler Wolfgang Schüssel avvisar utspelet med argumentet att det skulle leda till en superstat. Däremot välkomnas Gerhard Schröders initiativ av Belgiens regering, som övertar ordförandeskapet i EU nästa halvår. Den liberale premiärministern Guy Verhofstadt ser det då som sin huvuduppgift att driva på debatten så att toppmötet i Laeken i december skall kunna ange riktlinjerna för en grundläggande reform av EU.
Schröder ogillar pompöst kontor Förbundskansler Gerhard Schröder flyttade i går in i sitt nya regeringskansli, en bombastisk byggnad som får Vita huset att framstå som ett under av anspråkslöshet. Kritiker har beskrivit paradbygget som en symbol för det återförenade Tysklands nya styrka i Europa. Detta till skillnad från Bonnrepublikens opretentiösa kontorsbyggnader som speglade Västtysklands låga internationella profil. Gerhard Schröder, som i början av veckan överraskade med krav på att förvandla EU-kommissionen till en regering och minska regeringschefernas inflytande, försäkrade i går att Tyskland inte tänker påtvinga Europa sin vilja. - Utifrån denna byggnad kommer ingen att härska. Här kommer vi att regera, sade Schröder när han tog emot nyckeln till det 12 000 kvadratmeter stora och åtta våningar höga kanslersämbetet som har kostat motsvarande drygt 2,1 miljarder kronor. Schröder har inte har gjort någon hemlighet av att han tycker illa om den pompösa byggnaden, ritad av Berlinarkitekten Axel Schultes på uppdrag av förre förbundskanslern Helmut Kohl och som i Berlin allmänt kallas "Palazzo skryt" eller "kanslerns tvättmaskin". Det senare är en anspelning på det jättelika runda fönstret som påminner om luckan till en tvättmaskin. - Vårt nationella självmedvetande behöver inte mejslas i sten, kritiserade i går Schröder som de senaste två åren har haft sitt kansli i förre DDR-ledaren Erich Honeckers ämbetsrum i östra Berlin. Schröder’s Europe In any event, non-German Europeans should not be frightened by the sight of Germany taking the lead in Europe. Under the rubric of a European Germany rather than a German Europe, Mr Schröder and his party strategists are perfectly entitled to try to mould Europe in their country’s own image. It is true that the balance of power within the club, indeed its geographical centre of gravity, is already changing—to Germany’s gain and France’s loss. And it is striking that France has so far contributed little to the debate on a new constitutional arrangement for the EU; its prime minister, Lionel Jospin, has been deafeningly silent, though his minister for Europe has been quick to rubbish the German plan. But that need not cause Mr Schröder to stay quiet. However the EU is reshaped, there will be enough checks to ensure that Germany cannot ride roughshod over its partners. Unhappy
Schröder moves into 'too grand' Chancellery An embarrassed looking Gerhard Schröder took the keys of his vast new German Chancellery in Berlin yesterday, despite his earlier description of the building as too big and out of place. Mr Schröder 's expression at a ceremony to open the £150 million structure was a mix of polite (he did not want to offend the architect) and disapproving (he thinks the vast concrete structure is bombastic.) Addressing guests, the Chancellor conceded that the complex was "a magnificent and impressive building" in architectural terms. Press
Release No. 162/01
France spurns German call for Euro-rule France yesterday dismissed Chancellor Schröder's calls for a European government as unbalanced and unrealistic, further undermining the strained Franco-German axis. Pierre Moscovici, the Minister for Europe and a close ally of Lionel Jospin, the Prime Minister, made it clear that Paris wanted nothing to do with the German plan for a European government and two-tier European Parliament. He said M Jospin would soon lay out his alternative ideas in a strongly worded speech. If, as expected, M Jospin European federalists will be delighted that the most powerful
government in Europe has reaffirmed its commitment to “ever-closer
union”. Eurosceptics will see Mr Schröder’s backing for a stronger executive as confirmation of their worst fears of German plans for a “United States of Europe”. The darkest version of these fears—commonly expressed on the right in both Britain and France—is that this is a renewed bid for German hegemony over Europe. Either way, the debate on the future of the EU has restarted in earnest. Schroeder and The European
Superstate It is by no means a coincidence that Mr. Schroeder, also the SPD party chairman, chose Nuremberg, a northern Bavarian city, to include his EU initiative as part of the unofficial SPD campaign platform. The Bavarian Prime Minister, Edmund Stoiber, is regarded as Mr. Schroeder's likely contender next year. Mr. Stoiber has long been Germany's most outspoken critic of a centralized Europe. He despises Brussels' reach into policies he sees as within his domain and that of his Christian Social Union -- namely, agricultural policies and regional subsidies. Consequently, when the EU summit in Nice stated last December that the next EU governmental conference in 2004 should deal with the EU decision-making process, Mr. Stoiber voiced his determination to make it a platform for his views. He demanded that some responsibilities be returned to the levels that had ceded them, the regional level. German proposal for EU Government Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has put forward plans for a radical shake-up of the European Union, including the formation of a European government. His ideas, contained in a draft policy document for the Social Democrat party conference in the autumn, were reported in the German news magazine Der Spiegel and have been confirmed by the SPD. The document calls for the European Commission in Brussels to be turned into a new government, while proposing that the Council of Ministers, which pulls together the leaders of the member states, should become a second chamber similar to Germany's Bundesrat. The European Parliament would gain supervision of the European budget, including massive agricultural spending. In the past, Gerhard Schroeder has allowed his Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, to appear as a European visionary and face the resulting criticism whilst he stood back, signalling his quiet approval. Now it appears he wants to take the issue centre-stage himself. The draft drawn up by the Chancellor and a senior working group still has to go before various party committees before being discussed at the autumn conference. But it is a sign that Mr Schroeder wants to have a clear policy on the development of Europe to take into a second term if he is re-elected. Schroeder Plan Seeks More
Unified Europe Ses also Fischer backs off EU 'superstate' Tysk debatt/German Debate - Statsvetare/Pol Sci - Joschka Fischer
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