The frenzied dance of the damned

There will still be a eurozone in six months, but a much reduced eurozone. All EU taxpayers will be poorer as a result of their politicians' hubris.

Meanwhile there's amusement value to be got from Open Europe's daily press summaries. A German Economy Ministry document sets out what could potentially form part of EU Treaty changes to achieve greater eurozone budgetary integration, which include a 2% deficit limit for all members, the possibility of withholding structural funds from those who break the rules, and the creation of an independent ‘stability board’ to oversee the integration process.

Woah there! In what has been seen as a sign of France’s reluctance to give the EU institutions more powers to enforce budgetary discipline on eurozone countries, French Budget Minister Valérie Pécresse says

What we want is greater budgetary discipline, but a budgetary discipline enforced by the states, with a real participation by national parliaments. This question of sovereignty does not arise for us.

Is that clear then? The Germans want centrally enforced discipline, the French want ... hm, what do the French actually want? To have their cake and eat it, one suspects. I'd thought they would string it out some more before this disagreement became explicit.

They know what they don't want, anyway. The Socialist candidate in next year’s presidential elections, François Hollande, criticised German plans to allow the ECJ to impose sanctions on eurozone countries breaching EU deficit and debt rules: “I will never accept the fact that, in the name of control over national budgets…the ECJ can be judge of the expenses and revenues of a sovereign state.” This sounds like a Nein to any German-inspired central control. Indeed, it seems he'd want no change to the present arrangements, left winger though he is.

Former Dutch EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein says a break-up of the euro is “unavoidable”, adding, “We constructed something that does not work in the long term”, while German economist Gustav Horn says “I think the euro has only three to six months left” if current policies remain unchanged.

"Given the severity of the eurozone crisis", the eurojelly sitting in No 10 "is prepared to forgo the chance of repatriating powers from Brussels, including added protection for the City of London from EU directives". They can do whatever they want and we get ... nothing. Well done.

It's all in vain anyway. Lucas Papademos is facing his first general strike and he hasn't even done anything yet. Don't tell me he didn't know about the hundreds of millions of disappeared euros at Proton Bank, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Italy will shortly become ungovernable.

There will still be a eurozone in six months, but a much reduced eurozone. All EU taxpayers will be poorer as a result of their politicians' hubris.